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With Opening Of Missouri's Health Care Exchange, Beware Of Scammers

(via Flickr/Jennifer Boriss)

State authorities and medical professionals are warning the public to beware of con artists seeking to take advantage of the opening of Missouri’s federally-run health care exchange next week.

Dave Dillon with the Missouri Hospital Association says scammers posing as government or health care workers may try to steal people’s identities or get their banking information while pretending to provide their victims with heath insurance.

“The people who are trained to help individuals will never ask for money…they are specifically in positions where they are supposed to assist, so anyone that is asking for money to help get them an insurance card or get them an insurance product, that should be a warning sign,” Dillon says.

Dillon advises people to ask for the credentials of anyone claiming to be an Insurance Navigator or Certified Application Counselor – their credentials can be verified through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

  • The CMS Marketplace (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) assistance line is 1-800-318-2596, and can be called 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Copyright 2013 St. Louis Public Radio

St. Louis Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a native of Mississippi and proud alumnus of Ole Miss (welcome to the SEC, Mizzou!). He has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off an old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Liberty Belle, and their cat, Honey.