Consumers have a right of action under Washington's Consumer Protection Act against their insurance carriers for breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, i.e., for insurer bad faith. This rule has been applied recently against a health insurance carrier accused of failing to deliver the insurance services for which it charged insurance premiums approved by the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
In particular, the plaintiff-policyholder alleged that the defendants' "unfair or deceptive acts or practices in conducting its insurance business" consisted in pertinent part of failing to have in-network providers as represented, and failing to provide coverage represented by the defendants to be within the plan. Harvey v. Centene Mgt., Co. LLC, ___ F. Supp. 3d ___, No. 2:18-CV-00012-SMJ, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 198773, at *13-*14, 2018 WL 6112407, at *4 (E.D. Wash. Nov. 21, 2018).
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