If you are one of the millions of Americans with health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and see a social media ad promising cash for daily expenses, stop and think before you click.
Thousands of Americans have complained that once they took the bait, their health insurance was changed repeatedly. Here’s why that happened:
In 2022 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid began allowing ACA policyholders to change insurance plans at any time, not just during one time of the year. Policyholders in states that use the HealthCare.gov website are particularly vulnerable.
In 2019, HealthCare.gov began allowing insurance agents to change customers’ health plans for them. The idea was to make it easier for consumers. But according to the Wall Street Journal, that’s when the problem started.
Some insurance brokers are now marketing their services on social media platforms, offering cash if the consumer buys a policy from them. The broker can afford it because they get paid for every policyholder they sign up.
But that’s not where it ends. Since the policyholder can change policies all year long, the broker looks for another insurer who will pay a commission, then changes the customer’s policy.
Low-income consumers are targets
Not only could the premium change, the policyholder would have to get new insurance documents, sometimes several times a year.
“Lower-income people seem to be the target of these ads,” Lauren Phillips, an independent broker in Dallas, Ga., told the Journal, adding that some of her clients had their insurance plans switched without their consent. “They don’t know the ins and outs of insurance and how it works, and they are fighting every day to keep the health insurance that they need.”
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has reportedly received more than 200,000 complaints about this practice so far in 2024. The agency said it is taking steps to limit or end the practice.
