• Planet Antares Scam Solutions | Avoiding Health Insurance Scams

    Date: 2010.10.14 | Category: Scam | Tags: ,,,,,,,

    Since the passage of the new Affordable Health Care Act, the Federal Trade Commission is asking consumers to be vigilant about scams involving health insurance. One such pitch in particular – the medical discount plan – has the FTC concerned.

    Medical discount plans are sometimes offered as health insurance, but the FTC is warning consumers that there’s a big difference between medical discount plans and genuine health insurance.  Vendors advertise these medical discount plans as “affordable health care plans” with no deductibles or co-pays.  They also claim to have thousands of PPOs in the vendor’s network that will provide medical services at a 50%-60% discount. Planet antares scam solutions provides information on health insurance scams.

    Medical discount plans do not operate like traditional health insurance. Instead, consumers are charged a fee for a list of providers that have agreed to deliver health care services at a discount. The FTC cautions that while some medical discount plans are legitimate and deliver on their promises, the majority of these plans do little more than take the consumer’s money. To avoid being scammed by phony medical discount plans, here are a few tips.

    Before you purchase any plan or pay any fees, planet antares scam thinks you should determine whether the plan you’re considering is a health insurance plan or a medical discount plan.  Check with your state’s insurance commission to verify that a provider who claims to offer health insurance is licensed to do business in your state.  Check with your state’s Attorney General to see if the vendor has any outstanding complaints about the plan you’re considering.

    Ask the vendor for a list of local providers that accept the discount plan, then check with the listed providers to verify that they accept the plan. Planet Antares Scam Solutions recommends that you be sure to ask which services are covered by the discount plan.

    Read all details of the plan carefully. Understand what’s covered, what’s not covered and when the discount applies. Ask questions before purchasing. If you’re not satisfied with the answers, or the sales person is evasive, look elsewhere.

    Understand all recurring and one-time fees associated with the plan and its services.  Understand the process and cost of withdrawing from the plan. Understand how refunds are handled.  Compare the cost of the plan to the cost of traditional medical insurance.  Finally, talk to your provider(s) to see if you can negotiate a discount on their fees and services without joining a plan.