“It’s a horrible mess. I’ve cried. I sat down and cried a couple of times over, thinking what did I do this for.”
HOUSTON — Federal authorities allege a Houston-based company that promised “the ultimate medical savings product” for people looking to cover out-of-pocket health care bills was actually operating a Ponzi scheme, according to court documents reviewed by KHOU 11 Investigates. Health Matching Account Services (HMA) is now under a federal temporary restraining order, and its bank accounts have been frozen while investigators continue their probe.
The accusations come weeks after KHOU 11 Investigates first reported on an FBI raid at the company’s offices in southwest Houston. Since then, customers across the country have reached out, saying they struggled to get their medical bills reimbursed.
Gabby Denny is a single mother from Tennessee who saw the KHOU report online.
“It was like watching a movie,” Denny said. “I’m like are you serious.”
Denny said she signed up for HMA because of its promise to not only match health savings contributions, but to double those dollars over time. She said she contributed nearly $10,000 but repeatedly got the runaround when she tried to get claims reimbursed.
“My son’s orthodontist has not been paid,” Denny said. “Upwards of $6,000.”
Another customer, Idaho resident Lana McCowen, said she is out $4,000 she put into her HMA account, along with a $1,700 root canal bill that was never reimbursed.
“It’s been a nightmare, a total nightmare,” McCowen said.
“It’s a horrible mess. I’ve cried. I sat down and cried a couple of times over, thinking what did I do this for,” McCowen said.
HMA customers like McCowen and Denny received letters from the FBI informing them they may be victims of a federal crime. According to a federal court filing, HMA owners Regina Gorog and her son Elliot are accused of operating a “fraudulent Ponzi investment scheme.” The court document references messages allegedly sent by Elliot, including one in which he wrote, “it’s my Ponzi scheme I can do what I want lol.”
“It angers me to be truthful with you that somebody would do something like this,” McCowen said.
The government alleges HMA held only a fraction of the money it claimed to manage for customers. Court documents show in October 2023, more than 8,000 customers collectively had account balances totaling about $33 million but HMA had just $130,000 in its bank account. A temporary restraining order filed by the U.S. government and approved by a judge freezes the company’s accounts to preserve whatever funds remain while the case proceeds.
A separate federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of customers https://www.khou.com/article/news/investigations/medical-savings-plan-holding-money/285-bf4d7551-37d1-4baf-bdeb-f64c813ac5e8 accuses the company of breach of contract for eliminating HMA debit cards to pay for medical bills and requiring customers to pay up front and seek reimbursement later. If customers stopped making their monthly contributions, they would forfeit their entire account balance according to the terms of the HMA contract.
Gabby Denny said between that civil suit and the FBI probe, she’s hopeful to recoup at least some of what she lost.
“It’s emotionally draining and trying on you, you know?” Denny said.
“Justice to me… I want the money back. I want my money back.”
An FBI spokesperson said HMA customers who feel they’ve been victimized should fill out an online questionnaire to aid investigators and document any lost funds to the program.
Attorney Brian Hobson, who represents Regina Gorog, provided the following statement:
The government’s arguments suffer from a lack of understanding of what HMAS is and the services it provides. We adamantly deny that HMAS is a Ponzi scheme. HMAS has paid over $20 million dollars in claims for its members over the preceding four years. HMAS paid nearly $2 million in claims in the three months leading into the government’s decision to shut down the company. That decision has left members of HMAS with no coverage; many of which relied on HMAS to cover medical bills and prescriptions. Those bills would continue to be paid if not for government intervention.
A Ponzi scheme occurs when a company requires money from new entrants to pay the bills of older entrants. The business must continue to expand or it will collapse. HMAS membership has been going down over the last two years, and they continued to pay medical bills for their members. HMAS did not require new entrants to continue to honor their contracts. The Ponzi scheme label is just inaccurate.
The government relies on the money in HMAS bank accounts to support their position that HMAS is a Ponzi scheme. What they failed to acknowledge is HMAS is backed by millions of dollars that are not in their bank accounts. The government is only considering a portion of available funds to support their charge.
An attorney for Elliott Gorog did not return multiple calls seeking comment.
