Beware of Obamacare Scams, Everyone

Just a quick public-service announcement to alert you to an obnoxious new scam carried out by insurance brokers who want to trick you into thinking their sites are the official healthcare exchanges set up under Obamacare. (The real ones won’t go online until October—that should be your first clue).

NewsWorks gave us a heads up about the scam with a post earlier this week on a Willow Grove-based broker who’d set up a site at PAhealthexchange.com. It included a banner which read, “Pennsylvania Health Exchange” accompanied by the seal of the state of Pennsylvania. PA’s Insurance Department’s enforcement arm (scary sounding!) contacted the site’s owner, Allen Heffler, and asked him to take it down, expressing concern that it was misleading, according to an Insurance Department spokesperson interviewed by NewsWorks. Heffler complied immediately and took the site down, explaining to NewsWorks, “Initially, we really wanted the website to be for people to get information about the future health insurance marketplaces, and eventually help facilitate people with the purchase of health insurance.”

Sure, it could be an honest mistake, but it’s a reminder to consumers to be vigilant about possible scams. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is expected to start a public-education campaign soon to warn people about fraud issues.

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