A Seattle-based insurance marketing company agreed to pay $100 million to settle charges that it engaged in deceptive tactics to sell health care plans, the Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday.

Insurance marketing companies are not insurers, but entities that sell insurance.

Founded in 2016, Assurance IQ billed itself as a direct-to-consumer website that enabled people to buy insurance online. The company also sold insurance over the phone through telemarketing.

The settlement is focused on Assurance IQ’s marketing of health insurance products, particularly short-term medical and limited benefits indemnity plans. These are health plans that people buy for brief periods or to supplement their primary insurance. Critically, the plans do not provide comprehensive health coverage and

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