Identifying ACA scammers

Wyoming Insurance Commissioner Tom Glause distributed a press release warning Wyoming customers not to fall prey to high-pressure telemarketers selling short-term or limited benefit health insurance products that are not compliant with the Affordable Care Act.

Consumers are cautioned to exercise caution with companies marketing health insurance over the phone.

The open enrollment period ended on January 31 for the 2016 health insurance marketplace, the release advised, with the next enrollment period not beginning until November 1. If someone offers a plan outside of open enrollment, they are not selling an ACA compliant policy. There is no special state enrollment period for individual health insurance, the release warned.

No one offering ACA compliant health care coverage will ask about pre-existing conditions. Do not provide your social security number, bank account or health information and never agree to any request to send money over the phone. Hang up if pressured to provide this information. Ask any agent for their license number, and if they refuse, hang up. Ask a caller to email information, including premiums, about the policy in question if you receive a sales call from someone selling health insurance. If they refuse, hang up.

The only official website for the federal marketplace is http://www.healthcare.gov, which has information about the ACA, qualified health plans and comparisons of marketplace plans. Be wary of similar sounding names or websites. The federal government will not call to sell health insurance, so consumers should be wary of telemarketers from the “national enrollment center,” “national healthcare center,” or other names implying an association with the federal government.

Should you receive a high pressure call like this, the release states to contact the Wyoming Department of Insurance at 307-777-7401 or 1-800-438-5768.