Topeka ? State officials are seeking more than $2.8 million in civil penalties from a Florida company that allegedly sold health care discount cards no Kansas providers would accept.

Atty. Gen. Phill Kline said his office filed a lawsuit in Shawnee County District Court against HealthCare Advantage of Plantation, Fla., alleging the firm made misleading, deceptive or fraudulent representations to about 280 customers in Kansas. Additional fines of $10,000 each could be levied if violations involved elderly or disabled residents.

Kline had a joint news conference with Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger and said the consumers received no benefits because no Kansas health care providers accepted the cards.

“By filing this action today, we are serving notice that we will use all resources necessary to aggressively protect Kansas citizens from this type of activity,” Kline said.

Telephone messages left with HealthCare Advantage in Florida were not returned Thursday.

The lawsuit was the first filed against a company regarding discount health cards. In April, the Attorney General’s Office reached a settlement with VisionTel of Eliot, Maine, over similar consumer protection concerns. The case began in 2003 and resulted in 87 Kansans sharing about $2,900 in refunds from VisionTel.

Praeger said the fraudulent marketing of discount health care cards was growing as medical costs continued to rise. Typical solicitations come through faxes or telemarketing, preying on senior citizens and vulnerable populations.

Discount medical cards are not illegal, Praeger said, but it is illegal to market them in Kansas without specifying in writing or verbally that the product is not insurance.

“There are legitimate discount cards out there,” Praeger said.

Kline said some of the companies market their cards to look like the federal government’s prescription drug cards, complete with an eagle emblem, to confuse senior citizens.

Praeger also said no local doctors take some companies’ cards, resulting in no tangible benefit to the consumer, despite an enrollment fee.

“Clearly, it’s not much of anything,” Praeger said.

Companies marketing medical cards are also required to register with the Secretary of State’s Office, she said.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is launching a nationwide campaign to educate consumers about medical card fraud, Praeger said, encouraging people to know their rights and ask questions before making any decisions.

“That will eliminate a number of fraud cases, but it’s not going to stop it,” she said.