New Health Care Law Inspires New Scams The new federal health care plan called the Patient Protection and Health Care Act has received mixed reviews from consumers. But its passage has already set off a reaction that was unexpected. Scam artists are already at work trying to sell policies under the new government supported health care plan even though the provisions of the Act have not started yet.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, has issued a national warning to the states to let them know these scammers are at work. The people committing the fraud are using a variety of techniques to sell bogus
health insurance policies. For example, some scammers are going door-to-door selling policies that are purportedly government supported. Others are using the telephone to sell fake insurance policies making themselves sound legitimate.
One of the common selling points pushed by the scammers is that there is currently an open-enrollment period. The truth is that the government has not even had time to set up the high-risk insurance exchange pool yet so no open enrollment period could even exist.
Sebelius said, ‘Unfortunately, scam artists and criminals may be using the passage of these historic reforms as an opportunity to confuse and defraud the public.’ She has notified each of the state insurance commissioners so they can mount public information campaigns to warn consumers.
Consumers have indicated that scammers are claiming to sell ‘Obama Care’ health insurance policies. The criminals are quite sophisticated in many cases and have even set up toll-free telephone numbers in order to appear legitimate. But the fact is it will take several months to establish the high-risk insurance pool. In addition, the requirement to buy health insurance doesn’t even take effect until the year 2014.
Scammers are hoping many of the consumers they contact believe they must buy health insurance quickly in order to avoid a government penalty. Like most frauds, success depends on applying pressure and forcing consumers to act quickly before having time to reconsider the offer. The criminals tell consumers that there is a limited open-enrollment period and imply that missing this enrollment period will lead to fines and penalties.
There are signs that indicate an offer is a scam. For example, someone selling an insurance policy that claims the consumer must make a quick decision because the offer is only good for a specified period of time is probably scamming the consumer. Another sign the insurance offer is not legitimate is when the salesperson claims the coverage is required by law since mandatory insurance requirements do not go into effect for 4 more years.
In 2014 it is expected that another 30 million consumers will be covered by health insurance as a result of this law. The tax credits will also take effect that year which are designed to offset part of the cost of health insurance.
Consumers should report suspected scam health insurance offers to their state insurance commissioners or law enforcement officials. The phone numbers can be found online.