State authorities and medical professionals are warning the public to beware of con artists seeking to take advantage of the opening of Missouri’s federally-run health care exchange next week.
Dave Dillon with the Missouri Hospital Association says scammers posing as government or health care workers may try to steal people’s identities or get their banking information while pretending to provide their victims with heath insurance.
“The people who are trained to help individuals will never ask for money…they are specifically in positions where they are supposed to assist, so anyone that is asking for money to help get them an insurance card or get them an insurance product, that should be a warning sign,” Dillon says.
Dillon advises people to ask for the credentials of anyone claiming to be an Insurance Navigator or Certified Application Counselor – their credentials can be verified through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
- The CMS Marketplace (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) assistance line is 1-800-318-2596, and can be called 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
