Man Wins $40 Fight with Insurance Company
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Posted: 8:16 AM Nov 12, 2008
Man Wins $40 Fight with Insurance Company
A $40 medical bill might seem insignificant but Sam Juniper says his five-year battle over paying it was a matter of principle.
Reporter: Associated Press
Email Address: news@wsaz.com
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POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. (AP) - A $40 medical bill might seem insignificant but Sam Juniper says his five-year battle over paying it was a matter of principle.

Juniper says his health benefits weren't supposed to change after he retired in 2000 from M&G Polymers, even if the company switched insurance providers.

But he received a $40 bill in 2002 after the company's new health provider, Aetna Insurance, refused to cover the cost of some blood work.

He challenged the decision in Mason County Circuit Court and won every decision all the way to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. The appeals court ruled in his favor on Oct. 10.

Juniper says he is still waiting for his $40 refund check, which he plans to frame and hang on his wall.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Bob on Nov 23, 2008 at 01:52 PM

There is a flaw in the WV tax code that requires senior citizens to pay state taxes on interest earnings from Treasury bills and bonds which are exempt from such taxes by federal law! This one is really worth pursuing -- contact me if you want to help or have advice to share with me.
Posted by: jda on Nov 18, 2008 at 06:48 PM

Wanna bet the attorney (Underwood) is getting paid more than $40 from someone? Also, if I don't miss my guess, the courts would have asked both sides to settle. Anyone want to bet Juniper turned down more than $40 to settle this before it went as far as it did? If this happened, Juniper wasn't using "principle" he was being foolish. Seems like a pattern seen by many who know him. Oh yeah and the last time I checked,our tax dollars do pay the salaries of the judges and other court staff who heard all this.
Posted by: to Chuck on Nov 13, 2008 at 10:23 PM

I'm Sam's daughter so I know him better than anyone on here. Yes, he may complain a lot but it's because he gets sick of seeing our town's hard earned tax dollars being spent on nonsense and he's one of the few people that will do something to try to get the problems fixed. He wasn't after the money, he was after getting the big company to stop screwing over the little people. He won his case, so that's how he came out ahead. Aetna should've just paid what they were contracted to pay and none of this would've happened. No, it shouldn't have ever gone to court. They're the idiots in the case, not my dad. And to Mason Co Res, get your facts straight. He is on City Council; he ran for office and WON!! That speaks a lot of people's opinion about him, doesn't it Chuck? Obviously the majority of the voters liked him. People like you don't because he expects public officials to be held accountable for their actions and makes a lot of noise until the facts are known.
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