Obamacare still unclear to some, so here come the scammers
The Affordable Health Care Act has caused a lot of confusion for businesses, and when confusion is high, there is an increased opportunity for scammers to swoop in and steal money, data and other resources. All of the government lingo and regulations can be overwhelming to sift through and therefore prompt business owners to defer to experts in the field who can relieve that stress; but unfortunately, this change in the marketplace brings out true professionals and scammers who try to emulate them.
The rate of fraudulent activity is expected to see an uptick closer to the start of October when residents will be allowed to compare and shop for health care coverage via exchanges set up by the federal or state government. October 1 will be the starter pistol for all health care exchanges to begin making their services available for consumers, but that will also include bogus health insurance exchanges as well.
“There are fake exchanges already up and running on the Internet,” said Monica Lindeen, Commissioner of Securities and Insurance for the state of Montana. “If you do a search and type in ‘exchange,’ you’ll find all sorts of websites that claim to be in the exchange when they are not.”
Major cause for concern
This is definitely a cause for concern for business owners who are simply looking to meet government healthcare regulations and now face the possibility of choosing an unauthorized healthcare exchange company that could lead to stolen funds and sensitive data. This also poses a problem for government officials as the Affordable Care Act is now a requirement for the business community, but the existence of these fake healthcare exchanges can make it difficult for owners to determine what’s real and what’s not.
In order to verify that the health care exchange that you are talking to is legitimate, make sure to only shop for health care plans on Healthcare.gov, and ignore calls, faxes and emails from other sources pressuring you to sign up for new Medicare cards. No new Medicare cards are needed, you do not need to update personal information and should not feel pressured to enroll with a new company in order to obtain promotional pricing. The sign up period is officially from October 1 through March 31 only and all rates have been preapproved and will remain the same throughout this period of time.
The new healthcare regulations may be confusing for some business owners, but start your research from a trusted site and take the time to thoroughly vet and review all information before signing up for a new plan; taking that extra time is a commitment, but it is one that can save your business from falling victim to healthcare scammers.
