Health insurance is vital to one and all. As rising medical expenses is driving more and more people to opt for health insurance, there are several people who unknowingly fall prey to scams of health insurance. They get lured by the unbelievably low premiums charged by these unauthorized insurance companies. These people who fall prey do not realize that there are many fake companies just trying to squeeze out money from their innocent victims. But, with so many insurance providers how do you know the real ones from the fakes? The number of companies running scams has been on the increase as many people are now opting to get health insurance but looking to get the best out of it. So, how does one ensure that they are protecting themselves from these cheats and at the same time getting the best for their money?

While looking for health insurance, it is best to avoid companies that are providing insurance at unbelievably low prices that does not sound feasible in anyway. Many people try to check for the best deal while trying to get health insurance and end up with no insurance coverage in the event of an emergency as they have been the victim of a scam. You must know what to look out for while having a discussion with the insurance provider in order to differentiate between a fake and a real provider.

Being professionals, these fake companies will know how to cheat the gullible people without them suspecting even for a moment that they are being taken for a ride. They will carry paperwork and everything else that a real insurer will be bound to carry with them and will make it look like the real thing. The most common way in which these fake insurers will scam people is to sell something that is not an insurance plan and will usually be something like a discount program. The company will contact the people over the phone and is usually targeted at individuals who have problems in affording insurance or do not actually be eligible to take health insurance. Also, you should look out if the representative says that their plans are reinsured. Although many real insurance companies opt for reinsurance as a protection measure, this feature is never conveyed to the customers.

It is difficult for a common man to segregate the bad apples from the good ones. As people running scams are thorough professionals and follow the protocol of the real ones, it becomes increasingly difficult to spot a scam from a real one. So, be aware of everything about health insurance in order to avoid becoming the victim of a scam. If someone reaches you over the telephone and tries to sell you some kind of health insurance that sounds too good to be true, try questioning the person in every manner possible to prevent becoming the victim to a scam. If you still doubt the person to be running a scam, ensure that you contact the state insurance regulators who are the authorities in the field of insurance to investigate these people and bring them to book if they are running a fake operation. This will not only protect you it will also ensure the safety of others who can fall prey to these smooth operators.

Insurance fraud. It happens daily. There are a number of bogus health insurance companies and agents in Dallas, Houston or anywhere else in Texas who will take your money and run. So, before you purchase health insurance for your employees or your business, make sure the insurance company you’re dealing with is legitimate. Start by checking your insurance agent’s credentials to be sure he or she is licensed to sell insurance in Texas.

An insurance scam artist may act without a license or use fictitious documents to appear legitimate. The following information will provide what you need to make the right decision when purchasing health insurance for your business or individual employees. The scammers are out there just waiting for you to take the wrong step. Make sure you know what’s waiting for you before you get scammed out of a lot of money.

In the last couple of years, the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has shut down 51 agents and 10 companies for selling unauthorized insurance. There are currently 376 open investigations against suspected unauthorized insurance scams in Texas.

The first thing is to check to see if a potential company is authorized to sell insurance. Then check to see if your insurance agent or agency is licensed. If you fail to find your company or insurance agency, don’t assume it’s unauthorized. Check with your agent for more information. Or verify by calling TDI’s toll-free Consumer Helpline weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at 1-800-252-3439. Insurance company data is usually updated at 7 a.m. each business day.

Businesses, school districts and individuals are bilked out of thousands of dollars each year by scam artists who misrepresent themselves as insurance agents. So, while the search for affordable health insurance can be a daunting task, don’t blindly follow an agent. But did you know you run the risk of purchasing a phony policy even if you work with a legitimate agent? At times, even experienced agents can unknowingly sell illegal insurance products. Though honest agents will do their level best to avoid such circumstances, it can still happen. Worst of all, you could be on the hook for a wide range of costs and expenses that you thought your insurance was covering.

The typical health insurance scam moves pretty fast. Scam agents flood the market to help generate as many quick sales as possible. Often, payments will be requested up front to help ensure they get as much money as possible before they disappear. After the fake agents have reached their goal, they simply sit back and watch the monthly payments roll in. Then, just as quickly as they appeared, they are gone, only to re-appear later under a new name and a new scam. The individual or company may never know they’ve been duped until, after thousands of dollars in premiums have been paid, they then try and file a claim.

It’s important to know what to look for. Here are some of the most common signs that an insurance company may be a scammer:

They claim extremely low rates, or offer minimal or no underwriting.

The health plan will accept almost anyone, including those with pre-existing or serious illnesses.

The plan claims to be federal, not state regulated. (ERISA or union plans, for example)

Sales pitches that avoid the word “insurance” or the use of certain insurance terminology even though it operates like insurance. For instance, it pays “consultant fees” instead of commissions, or refers to premiums as “contributions.”

The product claims to be “fully funded,” “fully insured,” or “reinsured” but agents are not told the name of the carrier insuring or underwriting the product.

Sometimes the path may seem clear and the choice easy, but in an effort to save money, there may be some things that aren’t clearly visible at first glance. So how can you avoid the scammers? Check out each insurance company and agent you deal with. It only takes a little extra time, but the effort could possibly save you headache, heartache, and thousands of dollars down the road.

Health news authority Natural News has published two very good articles exposing Zrii as being mostly made of \”cheap junk juices\” – apple juice, pear juice, and pomegranate juice, none of which are organic. See Mike Adams articles at Naturalnews.com dated April 24, 2008, and April 25, 2008 (the Zrii \”emperor has no clothes\”; Zrii contains \”cheap junk juices\”; and \”the Zrii deception has hoodwinked a whole lot of people\”.) He notes that he received more \”thanks\” for his Zrii review than for any other in recent memory for telling the \”obvious truth\” about the Zrii scam.

For anyone who believes Zrii is not a scam, ask Zrii a single question: Why, after someone signs up with Zrii, can they never, ever, change or remove their credit card information on their profile page? Zrii was charging items to my credit card and I could not get them to stop. The e-mails detailing the charges were from a \”do-not-reply\” address that would not accept responses. I finally decided to pull my credit card from the Zrii profile that had had been created for me and inform Zrii \”not to charge any items to my card and delete any private information they had from me.\” Amazingly, I could not update or delete or change my credit card information on my own profile page! They had locked it into their system and would not let me pull it out or change it, even after I was logged in and had accessed my profile page. They also had no human being to contact or to call to complain to or seek help from. I hired a lawyer and also called my credit card company, Chase Visa for help. Chase said they knew Zrii well, and routinely received complaints from folks about unauthorized charges and unauthorized product shipments. Visa cautioned me to return any unauthorized products I received using UPS with tracking, because, in their experience, Zrii also routinely denied receiving products back from customers claiming to have returned unwanted and unordered products. For anyone even thinking about becoming associated with Zrii, be sure to ask one simple question: Once you have my credit card information in my profile, will I ever be able to delete it or change it? If the answer is \”no\” (and I assure you, the answer is \”no\”), why would you ever do business or become involved with such an enterprise? Do you know of any other company that allows you to create a personal profile, allows you access to that profile and let\’s you make changes to the profile BUT NOT CHANGE OR DELETE YOUR PRIVATE CREDIT CARD INFORMATION?? Zrii is all about money — pressuring those you have relationships with (family and friends, as well as persons desperate for money) to purchase or sell a product no one wants or needs, with the sole goal of transferring wealth from the poor and weak to those willing to exploit others. I doubt God will show very much mercy to those involved on this earth with Zrii. If you are not involved yet, stay far, far away. If you are already in, good luck ever getting your credit card information back and good luck with your relationship with your God, who likely is extremely disappointed with you. There is always time to ditch Zrii and make a change for the good. If you desire to \”do unto others as you would have them do unto you\”, stay away from the Zrii Scam and pray for those involved in this terrible enterprise.