How Can You Stop Health Insurance Spam Calls?

Have you received unexpected calls regarding health insurance options? According to reports from consumers across the U.S., health insurance spam calls may be on the rise.

What are Health Insurance Spam Calls?

Health insurance spam calls are just what they sound like: calls made by scam artists attempting to persuade consumers into paying for expensive health insurance that either offers few benefits, or doesn’t even exist. Even when the company calling is legitimate and the health insurance is real, these calls may be against the law if you did not give your prior express to the caller to be contacted.

Health insurance spam calls began to surge in October 2019. In that month alone, approximately 288 million robocalls regarding health insurance offers were made to consumers in the U.S. That month was a record-breaking month for scam calls, with around 5.7 billion robocalls received by consumers across the nation.

There are many types of health insurance scam calls. These callers may attempt to charge you a fee in exchange for their help navigating the health insurance marketplace. Other callers may tell you that you need a new insurance card, and must pay a fee to receive it or risk losing your health coverage. Although the fees that they quote may seem small, their real goal may be to gain access to your credit card number or bank account information.

Many scammers target people who are on Medicare or Medical Assistance. If you have been contacted by someone claiming to be from one of these programs and asking for your credit card information or Social Security number, you may want to contact Medicare directly to ensure that these calls are real before handing over any information.

Why are You Receiving These Pre Recorded Calls?

Many scam artists send use pre-recorded voice messages and an auto-dialing system to contact as many consumers as possible without human intervention. Although these methods allow them to cast a wide net, they are against the terms of the TCPA.

How Can You Stop Health Insurance Spam Calls?

There are several ways to avoid receiving health insurance spam calls. Due to the increase in these types of intrusive robocalls, many cell phone coverage providers have started offering anti-robocall services to customers. These services may be able to detect potential robocalls and flag them as spam. They may also be able to send these calls immediately to voicemail. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all offer this type of call screening service.

Even if your cell coverage carrier does not offer this type of service, your phone may have built-in call blocking software. You may be able to activate this feature under your settings. Additionally, even if your phone does not have software that can detect potential robocalls, you may be able to block individual numbers if you are called repeatedly from the same phone number. Unfortunately, many scam artists will simply begin to call you from a different phone number if they believe their calls are being blocked.

You may also be able to download or purchase a free or paid app to screen incoming calls and detect potential intrusive robocalls. However, robocall blocking software is not always effective. These apps may not be able to detect every incoming robocall, or they may accidentally block calls from friends or family that you want to receive. Additionally, the apps that send robocalls straight to voicemail may have the unintended consequence of filling your voicemail box with scam messages.

If using call blocking software does not curb the intrusive robocalls, there may be more serious measures you can take. One way to avoid receiving unwanted calls is to register your number with the National Do-Not-Call List.

You are able to register home or mobile numbers with the list, and registration does not expire. Most companies are prohibited from calling numbers registered with the list. However, scam callers may not respect the Do-Not-Call List and continue to contact people who are registered. If you continue to receive unwanted robocalls after you have been registered with the list for more than 31 days, you have the right to report these calls.

You may be able to report unwanted robocalls to the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC is in charge of enforcing laws regarding consumer privacy, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Although the FTC is not able to follow up on individual reports of robocalls, you may still be able to give the agency information about the types of calls you have received and who you have received them from.

Are the Calls in Violation of the TCPA?

Most unsolicited robocalls are in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The act was signed into law in 1991 in order to protect consumers from being harassed by solicitors and telemarketers. As technology has evolved, the act has evolved to protect consumers from being harassed by ringless voicemails and intrusive texts, in addition to spam calls.

According to the TCPA, companies are prohibited from contacting consumers without their prior consent unless the call is simply informational and is not made in an attempt to solicit business. Companies are not allowed to call numbers listed on the Do-Not-Call list, or to continue to contact consumers who have withdrawn their consent to be contacted.

Even consumers who have given their consent to receive solicitation calls must be given the option to opt-out of being contacted at any time. Additionally, solicitors are prohibited from calling after 9 p.m. or before 8 a.m. They are also prohibited from using auto-dialing systems to send calls or messages to hundreds or thousands of consumers at a time, and may not use pre-recorded or robotic voices to send messages.

When Should You Seek Legal Help?

If you have been unable to prevent health insurance spam calls by registering with the Do-Not-Call list or installing call blocking software on your phone, you may be eligible to speak with a qualified attorney about your remaining options.

Consumers who have been subject to intrusive and harassing spam calls may be able to pursue compensation for these TCPA violations. Consumers may be able to collect between $500 and $1,500 for each violation of the TCPA, in addition to forcing solicitors to cease contacting them.

Join a Free Insurance Company TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you received a phone call from an insurance company that used an artificial voice or pre-recorded message, you may qualify to join this insurance company TCPA class action lawsuit investigation.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.