HealthCare.gov Blasts Reports of Unauthorized Plan Switching

Managers of the federal health insurance enrollment website, HealthCare.gov, are asking consumers to call them if agents or brokers have put them in new plans without telling them.

Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that runs HealthCare.gov, were reacting to a report by KFF that rogue agents and brokers are disrupting some consumers’ coverage and finances by changing their coverage.

HealthCare.gov helps private health insurers enroll consumers in individual major medical coverage in 32 states. About half of its business comes in through agents and brokers.

CMS calls HealthCare.gov “the Marketplace.”

If rogue producers have replaced consumers’ coverage without warning, CMS can help them restore their old coverage, cancel the new coverage and correct their tax forms, officials said.