Scammers lurking during special health insurance open enrollment period

The COVID-19 pandemic is leaving so many people unemployed and uninsured. To help, the Biden Administration reopened a special enrollment period for you to get health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace

However, you need to be careful as scammers are also lurking to take your money and identity.

From now until May 15th, you can try and get insurance on Healthcare.gov. Only use this website and watch out for copycat sites that look similar!

The key is to make sure the site ends in .gov. You also need to be on guard for unsolicited phone calls that promise better coverage.

Catherine Honeycutt with the BBB of Eastern North Carolina says, "You could be signing up for a fake plan that doesn't benefit you, in the end, you think that you're going to be saving money but in the end, you've lost your coverage, you've lost your information, so we encourage you to go directly to your provider every time."

Tips from the BBB:

Be wary of anyone who contacts you unsolicited. People representing Medicare or ACA plans don't contact you by phone, email, or in-person unless you are already enrolled. Be especially cautious of threatening calls that require quick action or immediate payment.

Decline promotional gifts in exchange for personal information. Keep a healthy level of skepticism any time a broker offers you free gifts, health screenings, or other special deals. Never sign up with a broker who offers you an expensive "sign-up gift" in exchange for providing your Medicare ID number or other personally identifiable information.

Beware of dishonest brokers who offer "free health screenings." This is called "cherry-picking" and is against the Medicare rules.

Guard your government-issued numbers. Never offer your Medicare ID number, Social Security number, health plan info, or banking information to anyone you don't know.

Hang up and go to official websites. You can enroll or re-enroll in Medicare at Medicare.gov or in a marketplace health plan at Healthcare.gov.