As Caritas promises no more card swiping, IC lifts cease-and-desist order

MANILA, Philippines–Caritas Health Shield Inc. has resumed selling new health maintenance organization products after the Insurance Commission (IC) lifted the cease-and-desist order it had issued to stop the HMO provider from swiping potential customers’ debit and credit cards.

On the sidelines of an Asean Insurance Training and Research Institute (Aitri) program hosted by the IC on Monday, Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa told the Inquirer that the regulator allowed Caritas Health Shield to resume operations last month after it pledged to stop the practice of swiping cards that customers had complained about.

Since the lifting of the cease-and-desist order, the IC no longer received any complaint against Caritas Health Shield, although the regulator continues to also monitor other insurers which had been subject to similar complaints in the past, Funa said.

The resolution of the complaints against Caritas Health Shield was a result of hearings and meetings between the IC and top company officials, including its legal team, according to Funa.

In July, the IC ordered Caritas Health Shield to stop to stop selling and transacting new HMO products and businesses due to alleged fraud.

Back then, the IC said the July 8 cease-and-desist order had stemmed from “numerous complaints received by the IC on the alleged fraudulent swiping of credit/debit cards and alleged misrepresentations of the company’s sales agents,” especially at Caritas Health Shield’s mall marketing units.

Caritas Health Shield later on claimed it already stopped operating its mall units that had been subject to complaints.

According to Caritas Health Shield, its mall marketing business accounted for a mere 0.58 percent of the plans it sold between 2016 and 2019. /jpv