Health insurance awareness can help in avoiding fraudulent policies which can leave you without any health care coverage when you require it most. With rising health insurance premiums, families, working professionals or seniors search for ways of saving money on the medical coverage.
Unscrupulous firms have been taking advantage of the rising demand for the affordable insurance coverage by offering policies which do not have any authentic value. The insurance department in your state can provide some valuable information concerning the identification of fraudulent insurance providers within your area.
Small business owners who look for group coverage and personal health insurance plans are the major targets of the fraudulent providers. It may prove quite challenging to find an affordable coverage both for your company and yourself.
To protect yourself against the insurance scams, limit your search for health insurance to only licensed agents or insurance companies with some strong financial rating as well as reliable reputation within your area.
Examples of Health Insurance Scams
- Cheap insurance policy is a common scam which provides coverage for any pre-existing condition. People who have serious health conditions and have been disappointed by the insurance companies could possibly be vulnerable to such scam. In case you purchase the fraudulent policy for coverage of kidney failure, cancer, heart disease and some other serious health conditions, then you might pay premiums for some months only for the insurance company to disappear upon the submission of a claim.
- Another health insurance scam is the medical discount cards. Such discount plans might be promoted as an alternative to the health insurance plan. However, the received discounts might not be as fulfilling as they appear. The savings might as well apply only to particular services or the health providers. Before buying any discount card, ensure that it’s acceptable among the providers that you regularly visit for all health services.
- Senior citizens relying on a low budget or wishing to save some money on Medicare co payments costs and the prescription drug coverage are the major targets of most health insurance scams. The unscrupulous insurance firms could attempt to sell policies on Medicare supplement or even the prescription drug plans without any financial value upon the submission of a claim. The fraudulent sales personnel can possibly try pressurizing the old people by telling them about the purchase coverage or the enrollment deadlines that they should be meeting so as to comply with the new regulations with regards to health care.
How to avoid health insurance scams
- Saving money on insurance always appeals to individuals on a low budget. However, you could be faced with huge medical bills in case you buy an invalid policy. All insurance providers, brokers and agents have to be licensed so as to sell insurance within your state. An insurance company or agent that is reliable must be ready to offer you the license number that it uses. The relevant insurance departments will as well have some information regarding complaints against some specific providers.
- If you meet any salesperson that is aggressive and attempts to apply high pressure techniques or one who tries intimidating you with some deadlines to laws that regard health care, you might be a scam target. Promises of premiums that are unrealistically low or some extensive benefits for serious health conditions will probably be a scam. So avoid them at all costs.
- In case the typical rates of health insurance plans are known to you, then you have lower chances of being scammed. Do some comparisons on the health insurance market to establish the average rate of insurance among some reputable insurance providers. If you have any difficulty in getting an affordable coverage or already turned down by one or more insurance providers because of some serious health conditions, then you can contact the relevant department for information pertaining to high risk health insurance plans.
- Protect the health insurance identification card offered to you. Never leave it in an open place where people can see it. In case your wallet is stolen or gets lost, you should contact the health insurance company immediately. They may even decide to change the health insurance number.
If you follow the aforementioned tips, you will be able to avoid health insurance scams. Remember that when the deal is too good, you should be more careful.
Melissa Davis is an Australian blogger who has been writing about insurance, finance and other topics related to business. Currently she has a career in iSelect a growing company that help you selecting health insurance and other related products.
