Saturday, January 31, 2009

Detecting Fraud On The Web When Getting Health Insurance

By Jordan FeRoss

When most people think of fraud, they generally think of credit card or identity fraud, They do not realize that one of the fastest growing forms of fraud today is health insurance fraud. Because you provide personal information when applying for health insurance online, it makes you more vulnerable to fraud. As with any online purchase, you need to use simple, common sense safety precautions, especially because of the amount of personal information shared.

It's easy for them to put up a website and set up shop online. Anyone can say that they have a valid heath insurance company online. When looking for health insurance in Texas, this should be taken very seriously. There are too many people that get duped because they believe everything they see and hear.

So, if you are in the market for health insurance in Texas, you need to be able to recognize fraudulent sites as you shop. This can be difficult as there are multiple scams waiting to take the money of unsuspecting visitors. One of the more common of these is the pyramid scheme that not only offers to sell you insurance but tells you you can make money selling it to others. This is not how legitimate insurers sell their products and should be avoided. If you do make the bad decision to become a "member" in one of these schemes, you will not be insured. The fee you were assessed is a membership fee that allows you to begin selling the insurance to others. Any medical service "discounts" offered by these scams are also worthless as they will not be honored by any reputable service provider.

To recoup your investment, you would need to participate in the unethical (and illegal) practice of selling worthless insurance plans to other unsuspecting individuals. Because health insurance in Texas is big business and so expensive it will unfortunately not be difficult to find people looking for a good deal and ripe for the picking for this particular scam.

Another popular scam leads you to believe you are purchasing a regular health insurance plan in Texas. They advertise the lowest rates around and draw you in with false promises. As soon as you try to submit a claim you find out that you don't have any insurance at all.

There are other scams where people get duped easily. There are people that set up bogus companies only for the "owners" to take the money and run. There are others where an agent advertises online to get business and find out that it's just another scam.

One of the biggest frauds regarding getting health insurance in Texas is about selling insurance when an agent isn't authorized to do so. According to state law, the insurance company and the agent must have a valid license to sell health insurance in Texas. If it's found out that they are not licensed, they cannot legally sell anyone any type of insurance in the state. Not only that, your insurance claims may not be paid and you would be duped out of money that you paid on health insurance premiums. If you suspect fraud or scams while looking to get health insurance, then report it to your local or state fraud agency.

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