Unfortunately there are people taking advantage of Senior Citizens by purporting to be an insurance salesman and instead collecting the premiums for themselves. The following list is from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners website as a consumer alert.
- Beware of door-to-door salesmen. Agents cannot solicit business at your home without an appointment. Don't let them into your home.
- Check with your state's insurance department (available through http://www.naic.org/state_web_map.htm) to make sure the salesman is licensed as an agent.
- Do not give out personal information, such as Social Security, bank account numbers or credit card numbers to anyone you have not verified is a licensed agent. People are not allowed to request such personal information in their marketing activities and cannot ask for payment over the internet.* They must send you a bill. Once you decide to purchase a plan and have verified that the agent is licensed, you may give the agent personal information to assist in enrollment and billing.
- Verify that the plan is an approved Medicare plan. All of the approved plans are available at www.medicare.gov or you can call 1-800-MEDICARE.
- If you suspect fraud, call the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General at 1-800-HHS-TIPS.
- Contact your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program (contact information available through http://www.medicare.gov/contacts/static/allStateContacts.asp) if you have any questions at all.
Follow these guidelines and you should avoid any scammers trying to take your money.
You have a lot of great information here!
Posted by: saveleighann | May 20, 2006 5:43 AM | Permalink to Comment