Tennessee insurance regulators will be allowed to shut down a pair of businesses that were accused of acting illegally as health insurers and bilking more than 12,000 consumers nationwide out of at least $21 million, The Tennessean reports. Smart Data Solutions and the American Trade Association must be liquidated because they "pose a significant hazard to the public," according to the ruling. The ruling came eight days after a court hearing on the state's petition to seize the two companies and liquidate their assets to protect the thousands of health-insurance policyholders, most of whose health claims were never paid.
