The Indiana Department of Insurance issued a statement April 11 warning consumers to avoid telemarketers who sell short-term health insurance products that are not compliant with the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Most telemarketers “will make promises they cannot deliver,” the department said, and could defraud consumers if they are not careful.
The Department offered several pointers to prevent consumers from turning into victims of fraud by shady telemarketers:
- While the open enrollment period this year for the health insurance marketplace under the ACA ended last January, the next enrollment period runs from November 1, 2016 to January 31, 2017.
- There is no special “state enrollment period” for individual health insurance. Marketers offering insurance plans outside of the ACA open enrollment period are likely not selling a compliant policy.
- Insurers offering ACA-compliant health care coverage will never ask you if you have a preexisting medical condition.
- Consumers should be careful of telemarketers who claim to be from the “national enrollment center,” “national healthcare center,” or another “official-sounding” name. The government would never call customers to sell insurance.
- Consumers should not reveal their bank accounts and/or health information, nor should they agree to send money over the phone.
- Only buy insurance from a licensed agent, or through a approved navigator.
- Customers receiving sales calls for health insurance should not hesitate to ask the caller to email or send information about the policy.
