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SCAMMERS TAKE
ADVANTAGE OF HEALTH REFORM
State Insurance Regulators Warn All Americans To Be On Alert
Consumers searching for health insurance coverage since the
passage of
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 (PPACA) should
be on the lookout for scammers hoping to take advantage of the
confusion surrounding the details of the new law. State insurance
regulators are receiving complaints about scam artists going
door-to-door selling “ObamaCare” insurance policies or
claiming there is a limited open-enrollment period to buy health
insurance. Some of these scam artists have even set up bogus toll-free
numbers to sell policies.
If you are offered a policy that is a “limited-time
offer,” has limited benefits or is advertised as necessitated by
health insurance reform, STOP
before making a payment, CALL our
Consumer Services Division at (800) 852-5494 or (501) 371-2640 and
CONFIRM the policy, agent and
company
are legitimate.
No Immediate Changes
While there are many changes coming in the health insurance
marketplace, there are no provisions in the PPACA that require
consumers to make immediate modifications to their health coverage.
Many of the initial changes will go into effect six months from when
the law was signed by President Obama - or September of this year.
Until then, state insurance regulators, the NAIC and the federal
government are working on implementing the changes. This means
designing and putting into place at the state level many of the new
consumer programs and regulations.
Don't Be Misled
Here are some important “red flags” to watch out for:
- The agent or salesperson says the premium offer is only
good for a
limited enrollment period.
- There is no open enrollment period currently associated
with the new
health care law, so if the salesperson is pressuring you to buy the
policy because the price or option is only good for a short time, be
wary. Before you write a check or sign a contract for one of these
policies, call our Consumer Services Division at (800)
852-5494 or (501) 371-2640 to make sure the
insurance company and agent are licensed in Arkansas. And carefully
read the contract to make sure you understand the coverages and
limitations of the policy.
- The agent or salesperson says the coverage is necessitated
or required
by the health care reform law.
- You may have heard that all Americans will be required to
purchase
health insurance under the new law, but this requirement does not go
into effect until 2014 for most people. If an agent or salesperson
implies you have to purchase coverage now, stop and call our
Consumer Services Division at (800) 852-5494 or (501) 371-2640.
- The agent or salesperson doesn’t explain the
coverages included
in the policy or does not provide a full list of the coverages.
Limited benefit health insurance plans are a legitimate
health
insurance offering from many insurance companies, but some agents or
salespeople may not be fully explaining the limits to these policies.
These bare bones policies typically have lower premiums, but they only
cover specific expenses and have many more limitations than a
comprehensive medical plan. These plans also have higher co-insurance
percentages, co-payments and deductibles than comprehensive plans.
These types of policies also have low maximum benefit limits called
“caps,” so it may be possible for you to reach your cap
quickly, leaving you responsible for the balance of the bill.
If you are considering a limited benefit health insurance plan or a
high deductible health insurance plan in conjunction with a Health
Savings Account (HSA), get smart before signing the contract. Click here for tips and considerations about these types
of policies.
- The agent or salesperson claims the coverage will be
"grandfathered" or
exempted from changes required by the health care reform law.
- Only policies purchased before President Obama signed the
PPACA on
March 23, 2010, will be "grandfathered" or exempted from changes
required by the law. Any policy purchased now must comply with all of
the changes required by the bill to satisfy the individual mandate in
2014.
More Information
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