There have been reports of increased fraud attempts stemming from confusion surrounding the Affordable Care Act.  Protect yourself by knowing your rights and being informed! Follow these important tips:

• If you are interested in signing up for insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace, do your own research online at the official ACA website. Approved agencies and organizations that offer assistance with applying for insurance through the marketplace will be listed on this site.
• Medicare and other insurance representatives will NEVER call you and ask for personal information such as your bank account number.
• Medicare private plans like Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare Part D plans cannot call and ask for your financial or personal information. In fact, plan representatives cannot call or email you if you have never been a member of the plan and you did not invite the plan to contact you.
• If you receive a suspicious call from someone asking for your personal information, take down the name of the person you spoke to, as well as the date and time of the call. You can report callers pretending to be Medicare representatives or government officials to 800-MEDICARE or to your local Senior Medicare Patrol.
• If you feel that you are a victim of identity theft, you may also want to contact your local police department as soon as possible. You can also contact the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging Fraud Hotline by calling them at 855-303-9470 or by visiting them online here.

To learn more on how to protect yourself, click here.