There is no question that researching health insurance plans can be very confusing.  Unfortunately there have been many instances where scammers have exploited this confusion and sold worthless programs to people.  Recently the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) settled a complaint it brought against Benefytt Technologies, Inc and its partners who misled people into thinking they were buying Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliant heath insurance policies or products with the same benefits as ACA insurance, but instead sold worthless products to their victims leaving them unprotected when they needed to access what they thought was their health insurance.

Fortunately, the FTC brought legal action against Benefytt and its partners who agreed to a settlement by which they are required to pay 100 million dollars to the FTC which will return the money to the scam victims.  As more details become available as to the refunds, I will report them to you.

TIPS

So what should you do if you need to purchase health insurance?  The best way to start is by going on line to https://www.healthcare.gov/ as well as your state marketplaces where you can get reliable information about comprehensive ACA compliant health insurance.

If you are considering a health insurance company that is not one of the major providers with which we are all familiar such as Blue Cross-Blue Shield, you should do a search engine search with the name of the company and the words “scam,” “complaint” or “fraud” and see what you come up with.  You also should check with your own state’s insurance commissioner’s office to see if there are any complaints against the company.  Here is  link that will take you to your state’s insurance commissioner.  https://content.naic.org/state-insurance-departments

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