Open Enrollment Brings Out The Health Insurance Scams

It is open enrollment time and that means people start looking into their healthcare options for the next year. That is true whether you are looking for a Medicare plan or looking into options available with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). You have some time, as the middle of December is the cutoff for making selections within both plans. However, as you’re perusing your options, watch out for scams too. The cybercriminals are already on top of it and are sending out mass emails and even very specific ones to try and trick you into choosing their phishing plan instead of a healthcare plan.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offers up some tips for avoiding getting hooked this open enrollment season:

- There are no “official Medicare agents,” so if someone tries to represent themselves as such, they are scammers.
- The prescription plan that goes along with Medicare (also known as Part D) is 100% voluntary. If someone claims that it isn’t and that you need to join a prescription plan or you may lose coverage, they are not telling you the truth and are likely scammers.
- If you receive a call from someone claiming you need to provide information to them in order to keep your coverage, you shouldn’t. If you don’t initiate the call to a phone number you found independently of an email you received, it is likely a scammer.
- If you need assistance with Medicare, check the medicare.gov website.
- The legitimate site for the ACA plans is healthcare.gov. Many states have their own exchanges. Find the official exchange for your state if you go that route. You can find these at the healthcare.gov website.
- If you’re opting for private health insurance, check your state insurance commissioner’s website for licensed sellers in your state.

If you do spot a scam, report it to the FTC. If it’s related to Medicare, report it to medicare.gov too. The more they know about them, the more they can try to do something to stop them.

Stickley on Security
Published October 26, 2018