The Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) has an October 1st deadline to open health-care exchanges. As Lindsay Wise reports in The Washington Post, there are more and more scams being reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and consumer groups as the October 1st deadline approaches (“Confusion about Obamacare opens the door for fraud”; Page A13, July 15, 2013). These scams play on consumers’ fears with threatening calls or emails — and consumers are being scared into turning over personal information to scammers.
What are some of the scams? Here are just a few that are highlighted in The Washington Post article:
- Scammers claiming to be from the government call and offer an ACA card or threaten to have the consumers jailed if they don’t buy health insurance;
- Scammers claim to be from Medicare and tell the consumers they have to provide their personal and/or financial information in order to continue their Medicare eligibility because of the changes that will be coming under Obamacare;
- Scammers call or email claiming to be with “Obamacare” and say the consumers’ personal or financial information is needed in order to get the needed new Obamacare card.
The scammers are after consumers’ credit card numbers, financial information (e.g., bank account routing numbers), SSN and other information that can be used for an array of crimes including identity theft.
Consumers need to know that these threatening calls, emails and in person solicitations are all scams. Consumers who get any one of these scams should report them to the FTC or to the Attorney General or insurance department of their respective states.
What’s interesting now to see is that the California Democrat and Insurance Commissioner David Jones is warning the new exchanges could lead to rampant identity theft and fraud. Here is an except from an article on townhall.com
As California prepares to launch its health care exchange, consumer groups are worried the uninsured could fall victim to fraud, identity theft or other crimes at the hands of some of the very people who are supposed to help them enroll.
The exchange, known as Covered California, recently adopted rules for a network of more than 21,000 enrollment counselors who will provide consumers with in-person assistance as part of the federal Affordable Care Act. In some cases, they will have access to personal and financial information, from ID cards to medical histories.
But the state insurance commissioner and anti-fraud groups say the exchange is falling short in ensuring that the people hired as counselors are adequately screened and monitored.
Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones also said the exchange does not have a plan for investigating any complaints that might arise once the counselors start work. That means consumers who might fall prey to bogus health care products, identity theft and other abuses will have a hard time seeking justice if unscrupulous counselors get ahold of their Social Security number, bank accounts, health records or other private information, he said.
“We can have a real disaster on our hands,” Jones, a Democrat, said in an interview.
Many thanks for this very helpful information. Much appreciated.