Thursday, January 1, 2009

Obtaining Texas Health Insurance While Avoiding Fraud

By Jordan FeRoss

When most people think of fraud, they generally think of credit card or identity fraud, They do not realize that one of the fastest growing forms of fraud today is health insurance fraud. Because you provide personal information when applying for health insurance online, it makes you more vulnerable to fraud. As with any online purchase, you need to use simple, common sense safety precautions, especially because of the amount of personal information shared.

Because setting up an online insurance shop is so easy for just about anyone, it can be difficult to know who to trust when providing sensitive information to someone supposedly selling you insurance. You must always be vigilant when using the Internet to shop for health insurance in Texas. And keep in mind that if it sounds to good to be true it probably is, especially with regard to health insurance.

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.

This will create more cash in the pot. In addition to that, others are asked to sell memberships to others and pitch the same script. With the so-called "health insurance", members are also told that they can take money against the value of their insurance policies. Unfortunately, there is nothing to show for it. Health insurance in Texas is a big business and there are people that will try to profit from it any way they can.

Another popular scam leads you to believe you are purchasing a regular health insurance plan in Texas. They advertise the lowest rates around and draw you in with false promises. As soon as you try to submit a claim you find out that you don't have any insurance at all.

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.

Another one of the major frauds regarding health insurance in Texas is when unlicensed agents attempt to sell you health insurance. The laws in Texas require both the insurance company and the agent to be licensed in order to sell you health insurance. This protects the consumer and makes sure that an agent knows what they are doing before they sell a product like health insurance in Texas that has a huge impact on a person's life and well-being. If you find suspicious activity that may be fraudulent, you should report it to the better business bureau and any other local or state agency that deals with fraud. - 15275

About the Author: