Health Insurance Scams Targeting Small Businesses
The WallStreet Journal on Sunday examined the increasing number of smallemployers and individuals "searching for affordable health insurance"who fall "victim to scams and misleading offers." According to MilaKofman, a Georgetown University associate professor who has studiedthe issue, more than 200,000 small businesses and U.S. residents since 2000have purchased fraudulent health care plans and were left with hundred ofmillions of dollars in unpaid medical claims.
Telemarketers also have begun targeting seniors by selling fake Medicareprescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage policies, according to KimHolland, commissioner at the OklahomaInsurance Department.
Medical discount cards also are "sometimes misrepresented as insurance byunscrupulous agents and Web sites," according to the Journal.While legitimate discount programs can offer discounts of 5% to 25% or more onservices from a list of in-network providers, some illegitimate programs do nothave many providers in their networks or do not provide the promised discounts.
Reprintedwith permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign upfor email delivery at kaisernetwork.org/email . The Kaiser Daily Health PolicyReport is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J.Kaiser Family Foundation.