The Georgia family that ran the now-bankrupt Aliera health plans, formerly based in Sandy Springs, has agreed to pay more than $5 million in civil penalties to California regulators. But court filings show most of that money will never be collected.

Under the settlement, approximately $4 million of the penalties will be suspended based on sworn financial disclosures from former Aliera CEO Shelley Steele, her husband Tim Moses, and their son Chase Moses. The family claims it cannot afford to pay the full amount. If California regulators later determine the family misrepresented its finances, the suspended penalties can be reinstated immediately.

The settlement represents less than 1% of the estimated $660 million in unpaid medical claims left behind by Aliera and its affiliated nonprofit, Trinity HealthShare.

"It is a positive step in the right direction, but it's also a drop in the bucket," said Will Pollock, an Atlanta resident whose claims related to the birth of his son were denied by Trinity. Pollock has been speaking publicly about his experience for seven years.

Local families left holding the bills

The damage extends well beyond California. Georgia families were among those left with massive unpaid medical bills after Aliera collapsed.

Kim and Mary Lillie's son was left with more than $90,000 in medical bills after a golf cart accident. Ashley Segars, whose daughter needed life-saving brain surgery, previously told WSB-TV: "We had a life-threatening emergency. They failed us and her."

Health care sharing ministries operate in what consumer advocates call a regulatory blind spot, exempt from state insurance oversight. As of prior reporting by WSB-TV, Georgia's Attorney General's Office said there was no separate, active investigation related to Aliera in Georgia.

How members lost money

Aliera operated out of Sandy Springs as the plan administrator for Trinity HealthShare, which marketed itself as a health care sharing ministry. Neither entity was licensed as insurance. Members paid monthly, believing their medical costs would be shared by other members. Instead, the company's bankruptcy liquidator alleged in court filings that Aliera siphoned 84% of members' payments for its own use and to enrich insiders.

At its peak around 2018, Aliera had approximately 100,000 members nationwide and collected $215 million in revenue that year, according to Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reforms.

The money trail

Bankruptcy trustees have alleged the Steele-Moses family improperly received more than $26 million through unpaid loans, affiliated companies, and real estate transactions. The family has said in separate federal court filings that it already paid $7.4 million to Aliera's bankruptcy trustees.

Before pursuing the family individually, a California judge in 2025 ordered the companies themselves to pay $34 million in penalties. The new settlement resolves the individual claims against Steele and her family members.

What's left

Aliera filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 21, 2021, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The case was later transferred to Delaware. Multiple states, including Colorado, Texas, and Washington, issued cease and desist orders against Aliera before the bankruptcy.

GGG Partners LLC, located at 3155 Roswell Road NE in Sandy Springs, continues to serve as the chief liquidation officer overseeing recovery efforts for creditors.