SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The Georgia family behind the now-bankrupt Aliera health plans and Trinity HealthShare has agreed to a California settlement that includes more than $5 million in civil penalties, but court filings show the family claims it does not have enough money left to pay the full amount.
The settlement marks the latest development in a yearslong legal battle surrounding the former Sandy Springs-based company, which left families across the country with hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid medical bills. Bankruptcy filings have estimated unpaid claims at roughly $660 million.
Bankruptcy trustees have alleged that former Aliera CEO Shelly Steele, her husband Tim Moses and their son Chase Moses improperly received more than $26 million through unpaid loans, affiliated companies and real estate transactions. Those allegations remain at the center of ongoing efforts to recover money for former members and creditors.
“It is a positive step in the right direction, but it’s also a drop in the bucket,” said Will Pollock, an Atlanta resident who has spoken with Channel 2 Action News Investigates for seven years about his experience with the company.
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Pollock purchased coverage through Trinity, a health care sharing ministry administered by Aliera. He said the company refused to pay claims related to the birth of his son.
“You and I continually talk. I want to do this because I want to stand up for the people who were harmed by this company,” Pollock told Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray.
Channel 2 Action News Investigates first began reporting on Aliera and Trinity in 2019 after families complained that medical claims they believed would be covered were denied.
Trinity operated as a health care sharing ministry, while Aliera served as the plan administrator. Neither entity was insurance.
Over the years, Channel 2 Action News Investigates has documented multiple families left with five- and six-figure medical bills after claims were rejected.
Among them was a Georgia family whose daughter needed life-saving brain surgery.
“We had a life-threatening emergency. They failed us and her,” Ashley Segars previously told Channel 2 Action News.
Other families reported being stuck with major medical debts, including Kim and Mary Lillie, whose son was left with more than $90,000 in medical bills after a golf cart accident. The family said Trinity and Aliera refused to cover the claims.
“It’s like they’re leaving a wake of destruction behind them, and they’re ruining people’s lives,” Kim Lillie said.
In 2022, bankruptcy filings revealed more than $300 million in unpaid claims. A year later, liquidation documents increased that figure to approximately $660 million.
Last year, a California judge ordered Aliera and Trinity to pay $34 million in penalties. At the time, California regulators also pursued claims against Steele and members of her family individually, alleging they were personally responsible for violations committed through the company.
According to the new settlement, Steele, Tim Moses and Chase Moses have agreed to pay more than $5 million in civil penalties. However, court filings show the family told California regulators that their current financial condition prevents them from paying the full amount.
The family has also said in filings in a separate federal lawsuit that it already paid $7.4 million to Aliera bankruptcy trustees.
“It came out of the pockets of hardworking people,” Pollock said.
Under the California settlement, approximately $4 million of the penalties will be suspended based on sworn financial disclosures submitted by the family. If regulators later determine the family misrepresented its finances, the suspended penalties can be reinstated and become immediately enforceable.
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