Growing concerns about identity theft and fraud have led the Illinois Department of Insurance to issue a public warning, just as the new health insurance exchanges enter their implementation phase.
Concern focuses on those charged with assisting Illinoisans with enrollment to the new health insurance exchanges, the so-called “navigators.”
Navigators will “educate consumers about the health insurance Marketplace, answer health coverage-related questions, and facilitate consumers’ selection of affordable health coverage through the Marketplace,” according to the navigator training manual.
This will give navigators access to individuals’ personally identifiable information: the information necessary for identity theft.
The Illinois Department of Insurance warns people about giving their personal information through “unsolicited telephone calls of any kind,” as well as to people pretending to be navigators.
“We have been made aware that scams are possible,” said Kimberly Parker, a Department of Insurance spokesperson. “If someone is at your door, err on the side of caution.”
Some steps have been taken to help citizens discern real navigators from frauds. Real navigators will carry licenses provided by the Illinois Department of Insurance. Their names can also be found on an online directory.
However, to find the online directory citizens first have to find the Department of Insurance website, assuming they have Internet access at all.
Other steps are self-contradictory. Although the warning says citizens should “look for government seals, logos or web addresses to make sure the information comes from a trusted source,” it also warns about “entities that have sound-alike government or company names.”
The Illinois Department of Insurance is not the only institution warning about identity theft in connection with Obamacare navigators.
In August, the attorneys general of 13 states signed a letter listing their concerns about consumer privacy protection in connection with the navigator program. The letter highlights a risk of inadequate training for navigators and fewer consumer protections than is provided in the market—particularly regarding who is liable if information is stolen.
The letter states that the navigator program’s requirements are “less demanding than many federal privacy requirements, such as those applicable to federal census workers … without more protections, this is a privacy disaster waiting to happen.”Read the rest of the story HERE and listen to John McAfee, founder of the McAfee computer software security company, discuss his security concerns around the Obamacare sites:
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4 comments:
Why would anyone in their right mind go to the exchanges?
-Martha
There are all kinds of warnings about these Obamacare Navigators who are supposed to supply information and guide people through the insurance enrollment process.
One of the problems is that you can't see who your talking to. A criminal and non-criminal can all sound the same over the phone and phony websites with good graphics can look as legit as the real ones.
Martha, if your employer or private carrier drops your plan, you'll have no choice, unless you choose to pay the tax penalty and go without any coverage at all. Isn't that wonderful?
RW, yeah I know. It stinks.
What I hope is that people just pay the penalty, and that the whole thing collapses. They said they need 7 million people to sign up before Feb, or it's toast.
-Martha
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