Scammers capitalizing on confusion over Affordable Care Act


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SALT LAKE CITY — The Affordable Care Act takes a big step when health care exchanges open Oct. 1. Do you know what that means to you? If not, you're not alone.

A poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation showed plenty of confusion. It found 42 percent of Americans thought the act had been repealed by Congress or struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court even though it is the law of the land.

Such confusion is fertile ground for scammers who are trying to take advantage of it.

Norma Hood is just one of many Utahns who've received phone calls from someone pitching a new Medicaid card. Nobody needs your banking information for that, especially by phone. It's a scam.

"I said, ‘You do not need my banking information,' " she said.

Each day we get closer to the launch of health care exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, those phone calls and other insurance scams only get louder and more confusing.

"You really have to be on guard," said Jane Driggs of the Utah Better Business Bureau.


The scammers really know the subject so they'll be able to talk you into it.

–Jane Driggs, Utah BBB


She said scammers are eager to take advantage of people's confusion of health reform and what it means for them.

"The scammers really know the subject so they'll be able to talk you into it," she warned.

One of the more common scams involves callers who say the new law requires you to get a new Medicaid card. Some scammers say they're just updating your information to make sure you have a card. Others will actually try to get you to buy a card with your credit card or by wiring them money.

You don't have to buy any card under the new law.

"You don't need any special card," Driggs said. "If you're enrolled in Medicare, you have a card and that's the card you have. You don't have to show it to someone to show you're enrolled."

Related:

Community groups in Utah and around the country have received federal money to train people to help you sign up for coverage when the exchanges open. They're called navigators.

But scam artists are posing as community navigators to try to steal your identity, sell bogus insurance or hit you up for an enrollment fee.

"Legitimate navigators are not going to ask you to wire money," Driggs said. "They're not going to ask for your bank account number."

Some scammers have created bogus websites intended to look like the new insurance exchanges where you can shop for coverage. Driggs said the only site you need to remember is healthcare.gov.

Sign of a scam
Here's another sign you're dealing with a health insurance scammer: If that person uses the word "Obamacare," you know its bogus. Legitimate agencies will use the term "Affordable Care Act."

"They enter their state and it puts them through to a site that will show them what they need to do," Driggs explained.

Most Americans likely have heard there is a tax penalty if they don't have insurance by 2014. Scammers have heard it too. Some are posing as federal agents, going door to door and asking homeowners if they have health insurance and threaten jail time if they don't sign up on the spot. Driggs said it's up to you to make sure you're covered. The government isn't sending out enforcers.

"They're not going to knock on the door," she said. "They're not going to send you an email and say, ‘Are you enrolled?' Make sure you're the one that's contacting them," she advised.

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Bill Gephardt

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