The head of a grassroots organization says he has no problem following a judge’s warning to avoid Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Richmond office as “they rarely listen to their customers’ concerns anyway.”

Joe Szakos

Joe Szakos, director of the Virginia Organizing Project, avoided jail time after being charged with trespassing in July 2009 during a protest at Anthem headquarters. Attempting to discuss a 14% premium increase for the group, which pays $25,000 per month for coverage, Szakos was arrested for refusing to leave without first addressing the issue with the insurer.

In November 2009, a Henrico County judge ruled that the charges would be dismissed after six months if Szakos, a resident of Charlottesville, Va., avoids any further trouble and stays off Anthem’s property.

In a statement, the Virginia Organizing Project said during the trial, the arresting officer testified that Szakos was “cooperative and a gentleman” during the arrest and that customers are permitted to access the main entrance where Szakos attempted entry.

A waste of time, money

Szakos said in his statement that he looks forward to the dismissal of the charges as the judge “recognized that I was well within my rights to visit my own insurance company and ask them a question.

“Until that six months is up, I am barred from visiting Anthem’s property,” he said. “This is not a problem since they rarely listen to their customers concerns anyway. Being officially barred is perhaps a more formal exemplification of Anthem’s existing customer service policy: ‘Don’t ask questions, just pay your bill.’”

Szakos scolded his insurer for “wasting thousands of taxpayer dollars on this charade,” including the time and resources of Henrico County Police and court time.

Anthem declined comment to IFAwebnews.com.

This story originally appeared in the January 2010 print edition of Insurance & Financial Advisor.