Monday, February 2, 2009

Detecting Fraud On The Web When Getting Health Insurance

By Jordan FeRoss

Fraud has increasing become an issue of concern for most people, but they usually think of credit card fraud or identity fraud and few people realize the growing problem with health insurance fraud. Sadly, you have to be on the lookout for fraud whenever you deal with giving people your personal information, like buying health insurance in Texas over the internet. It is vital that you use common sense whenever you make a purchase online and especially one that involves divulging a lot of personal information.

It is all too easy for anybody to set up a reputable looking insurance website on the internet and con you into giving them your personal information and your money. If you are shopping online for health insurance in Texas, you must keep this in mind and keep your wits about you. Remember the old adage that says, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" and this is true with health insurance as well.

Here are some different ways to detect fraud when looking to get health insurance in Texas. One trick to look for is what is called a "pyramid" scheme. It works when you sign up to pay a membership fee online in order to get health insurance. The scheme offers people financial perks if they agree to this and invest their money. They also try to encourage you to get more people involved to do the same thing.

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 scheme is when you encounter a website that claims to be selling health insurance in Texas. They entice you by promising low rates on your health insurance. Later on, you find out that it's not a real insurance company and the health insurance policy is null and void.

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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