Pa. Insurance Department warns against robocalls claiming to sell health insurance during Affordable Care Act open enrollment
The department says some companies may be selling short-term, limited duration plans, while other callers are falsely claiming to be from the state.
Matt Rourke / AP Photo
Erik Furness meets with Antoinette Kraus with the Pennsylvania Health Access Network to begin the process of signing up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act, Monday, March 31, 2014, at Project HOME's St. Elizabeths Community and Wellness Center in Philadelphia.
(Harrisburg) — It’s open enrollment for Affordable Care Act health insurance — and for companies that may be trying to take advantage of consumers.
The state Insurance Department says it’s getting reports that robo-callers are claiming to sell insurance that is cheaper than what’s provided on the ACA marketplace.
Some callers are falsely claiming to be from the insurance department, said David Buono, consumer liaison for the department.
“If somebody is saying they’re from the PA insurance department, and they say they’re selling health insurance — it’s not us. We don’t sell health insurance. We’re the regulators of insurance companies.”
Other callers may be selling insurance that doesn’t cover basic services. After the Trump administration loosened regulations on short term, limited duration insurance, companies have popped up trying to sell those products.
Buono noted, open enrollment ends December 15, and people can sign up at healthcare.gov.
Brett Sholtis was a health reporter for WITF/Transforming Health until early 2023. Sholtis is the 2021-2022 Reveal Benjamin von Sternenfels Rosenthal Grantee for Mental Health Investigative Journalism with the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism. His award-winning work on problem areas in mental health policy and policing helped to get a woman moved from a county jail to a psychiatric facility. Sholtis is a University of Pittsburgh graduate and a Pennsylvania Army National Guard Kosovo campaign veteran.
