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Wednesday, march 19, 1975
lincoln, nebraska vol. 98 no. 100
doilu
edical card sales promotion raises questions
By Ron Wylie
Emergency Medi-Card, a Columbus, Neb., sales
operation, has been seeking distributors on the UNL
campus n recent weeks. But, according to the State
Attorney General's office, the Medi-Card operation
may be against the law.
The state attorney general's office has declared the
Medi-Card plan "a multilevel sales promotion
scheme," and advises that such plans are illegal under
a recently-enacted Nebraska law (LB327) which
prohibits "referral, chain referral or chain distribution
schemes."
"Medi-Card's operation violates Nebraska statutes
on multilevel sales," Jerry Fennel, who heads the
anti-trust division at the attorney general's office said
Tuesday.
Classified ads
Medi-Card promoters placed classified ads in the
Daily Nebraskan promising a chance to earn $3,000
before the end of the school year. Interested persons
were to call a telephone answering service where they
could leave their names and telephone numbers.
Medi-Card promoters then visited these prospective
clients and presented the plan.
The Medi-Card itself is a small engraved card listing
the medical history, allergies, current medications and
physicians of the holder. It sells for $1 5 and purchase
of the card, according to the promotional sales tape,
entitles the holder to a one-year accidental death
Under this escalated, laddered
(pyramid) scale, the more salesmen
or subdistributors in the operation,
the greater the discount and
greater the profit on the cards.
insurance policy in the amount of $1,000,
underwritten by W. Clement Stone's Chicago-based
Combined Insurance Co. of America.
The promoters also say the cardholder is entitled
to privileges accorded the holder of a National
Rent-A-Car credit card.
Set up business
The sales plan, similar to many multiple-level
operations, offers the prospective distributors the
Medi-Card at a wholesale rate several dollars less than
the $15 retail price. As the distributor finds salesmen
and expands las business, the discount rate is
enlarged.
Under this escalated (pyramid) scale, the more
salesmen or sub-distributors in the operation, the .
greater the discount and greater the profit on the
cards.
The card is manufactured by Emergency
Medi-Card of Columbus. According to the Lincoln
Better Business Bureau (BBB), the firm is owned by
Dell D. Miller of Columbus, former president of the
Dell Investment Co.
Dell Investment was involved in mortgage
brokerage and securities sales until 1972 when the
Security and Exchange Commission allegedly filed an
injunction action against the firm claiming fraud and
forbidding the sale of securities, according to a BBB
report.
Operation cleared
Medi-Card's president, Dell Miller, said in an
interview Tuesday that the card's sales operation had
been cleared through the attorney general's office.
But a check with that office revealed no, approval of
the project.
Inquiries and complaints on the Medi-Card plan
have been received by the BBB, but Deputy County
Atty. John Hurd said no requests for criminal
complaints have been made to his office. Fennel said
there have been no prosecutions.
Fennel said he wants to stop the operation'
through injunctive relief, a process ordering violators
of the law to cease business or be prosecuted.
Lincoln promoters of the Medi-Card operation are
Thomas Moore of 2501 South St. and Carl L. Bartlett
of 542 W. Lakeshore Dr.
Former detective
Moore, 27, a former private detective, placed the
advertisement in the Daily Nebraskan, claiming that
the Medi-Card program was endorsed by the
American Medical Association (AMA).
Moore is also a salesman for the Thunderbird
Clothing Co. of Pendleton, Ore., according to his
family, and holds a real estate broker's license to act
as an agent for a realty company.
; Previously, a .family member said Moore handled
land promotion for the defunct McCulloch Land Co.
His home-based detective service ended this month
when Moore's bond was cancelled by the State Surety
Co., according to Secretary of State Allen Bcermann.
Postal inspectors confirmed Moore's involvement
with the detective service, and reported cancellation
of Moore's professional bond.
Attempts to reach Moore for comment were
unsuccessful. His relatives and business associates said
he is out of town.
Moore's superior in the Lincoln Medi-Card
operation, Carl Bartlett, is a former Lincoln insurance
man.
Lost license
Bartlett lost his license to sell insurance, according
to the state Insurance Commission, after it alleged
that his actions violated section 44-339 (3) RRS
1943, which deals with fraud, misrepresentation and
dishonest practices. Bartlett contends that he has a
valid license to sell insurance in Nebraska.
Bartlett, listed in the Lincoln City Directory as the
head of Bartlett Realty, also works for the state oil
allocation agency. It was Bartlett who arranged the
Medi-Card answering service with the Executive
?SssS-0AS ATTENTION: DOCTORS AND
ftwa&'&ata hospital personnel
The reverse side of this Medi-Card contains vital
Emergency Medical Information.
Gin be read with any magnifying equipment.
NAME:
ISSUED:
JOHN R. DOE
March, 1975
CONTACT LENS
1ED
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'. - .
(. I - .-A ' f' -' ' teet
Copyright 1974, DELL CORP., Columbus, Nebrosko
Answering Service, according to Dan Roth, manager
of the ans we rin g se rvi ce .
During an interview Tuesday, Bartlett said the
Medi-Card plan was being received successfully across
the United States. He said Emergency Medi-Card has
established offices in Denver, Grand Rapids, Detroit
and Kansas City.
Both Bartlett and Duane Munson, a Columbus
resident and director of Medi-Card, said they were
aware that the attorney general's office had declared
their operation illegal, but they expressed confidence
that the ban would be lifted.
'Aware of illegality'
"I'm aware of the illegality," Munson said, "but
Dell (Miller) will work something out with the
attorney general."
Miller, reacting to allegations of fraudulent
advertising and pyramid operations, said, "If you run
that story, you'll be doing humanity a great
disservice.
"You should be writing about the humanitarian
service we are creating," he said. "We feel that this
card will help save thousands of lives."
Miller said he was sorry the classified
advertisement was placed in the paper, adding "none
of those names are going to be followed up."
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Ron Clingenpecl, ASUN president and student regent
Voting sites
for ASUN
ASUN elections will be held from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today at
Nebraska Union on City Campus, East Campus Union, Ferguson
Hall, Scllcck Quadrangcl and the Harpcr-Schramm-Smith,
Ncihardt-Cather-Pound, Abel-Sandoz and Burr-Fedde residence
halls.
Each student is required to present his student identification
card before voting.
Clingenpeel unexcited
by ASUN campaign
ASUN president Ron Clingenpeel called this year's ASUN
campaign "very unexciting" and says he docs not expect good
voter turnout.
"I don't expect the election turnout to be as good as last year,"
he said in an interview Wednesday with the Daily Nebraskan.. "I
don't think any party has shown any enthusiasm. The parties aren't
trying hard enough."
Clingenpeel, whose term as president ends April 2, said he is
supporting the USE party for the election. USE, he said, "has the
best-educated senators on their ticket." Also, the USE candidates
were chosen in an organized process, he said, which means a better
party than a group ot students who "just decided to run."
Clingenpeel said he supported the Student Court decision to
uphold the constitutionality of the policy requiring 500 signatures
for a party to be placed on the ballot, but said he did not agree
with the policy itself.
"I support the decision because the senate discussed the issue
very carefully, and anyone who didn't like it had ample time to say
so," he said.
Next year's campaign rules will probably be changed by the
senators because of the feeling of the candidates, he said.
"The candidates feel they have been inhibited by the rules " he
said, "so next year they will probably be changed."
The student fees issue, which questions the composition of the
Fees Allocation Board and the allocation of fees, is the main
campaign issue, Clingenpeel said, but added, "All the parties are
pretty naive about it.
"The parties don't understand who sets up the board, what they
control or how the whole operation works," he said.
The candidates who support a major change in the board are
"shouting in the dark," he said. "No one has offered any concrete
plan."