Health Insurance Scams in 2027: Red Flags, and How to Check If Someone Changed Your Plan

Health Insurance Scam Red Flags for 2027

If you see any of these, slow down and check before you share or sign anything. Several are banned marketing practices for agents and brokers under a federal rule that took effect July 20, 2026. Most also appear in CMS's own scam handout, “Protect Yourself Against Marketplace Scams” (updated July 2026).

• A “zero-dollar” plan, guaranteed. The rule bans falsely claiming you'll always qualify for zero-dollar insurance or zero-dollar premiums. Some people do qualify for a $0 premium, but no one can promise it before seeing your income and household. Our free health insurance guide explains how $0 and low-cost coverage really works.
• “You automatically qualify.” CMS's handout lists this claim about tax credits as a scam tactic.
• Cash, rebates or gift cards for signing up. The rule bans cash, rebates, gift cards, travel vouchers and similar rewards offered to get you to enroll.
• Tax credits pitched as cash. The handout warns about people who describe tax credits as cash incentives. A premium tax credit lowers what you pay for your plan.
• Fake government seals or logos. The rule bans fake or look-alike government and official logos. HealthCare.gov says to check for official seals, logos and web addresses ending in “.gov.”
• Fake endorsements. Ads that show a celebrity or politician backing a plan are on both the banned list and the handout.
• False deadlines and pressure. The rule bans misstating enrollment timelines and deadlines. For 2027 coverage, Open Enrollment on HealthCare.gov runs November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027.
• A demand for a card number or payment to keep your coverage. HealthCare.gov says the Marketplace, assister groups and your state will never threaten you or ask for your credit card or a payment to keep or qualify for coverage. You pay premiums directly to your plan, not to anyone else.
• A request for your HealthCare.gov login. CMS says an agent or broker is never allowed to log into your HealthCare.gov account or create one for you. No one should ask for your password or login code.
• An agent's contact details on your application. Under federal rules, the phone number, email and mailing address on your Marketplace application must be yours, not the agent's.
• Look-alike web addresses. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns that scammers use web addresses that look like government sites. Scroll past paid ads in search results and look for the .gov ending.
• An approval request you didn't ask for. For 2027, you may get a text, email or automated call asking you to approve an agent. If you didn't ask anyone for help, don't approve it. More on this below.
• Contact out of the blue. CMS's handout says to be wary of calls from people you don't know, emails you didn't expect, online or social media ads, and mail, email or text notices about your health insurance.

How to Check If Someone Changed Your Marketplace Plan (5 Steps)

The surest way to spot a change you didn't make is to look at your own account. It only takes a few minutes, and you can do it any time.

1. Log in yourself. Type HealthCare.gov into your browser. Don't use a link in a text or email you didn't expect, and scroll past paid ads in search results.
2. Check your plan. Make sure the plan, the insurance company and the monthly premium are the ones you picked.
3. Check your contact details. The phone number, email and mailing address must be yours. Federal rules don't let an agent use their own.
4. Check your income estimate. It should be your own number. Under federal rules, you calculate and confirm your household income. An agent can help explain what counts as income.
5. Check your notices and messages. Look for changes you didn't make, such as a new plan, a new address or a new application.

If you can't log in, or something looks wrong, call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596. If you call on your own, the Call Center removes an agent from your application when you ask it to, or when you say you're not working with that agent anymore.

How to Report Health Insurance Fraud

Report a health insurance scam to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general. That's the FTC's advice in its September 28, 2026 alert before Open Enrollment. HealthCare.gov also says to contact your local police department and the Marketplace Call Center.

• A scam or fraud: the FTC, your state attorney general and your local police.
• A plan you didn't approve: the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596, or your state's exchange if it runs its own.
• A problem with a licensed agent: your state insurance regulator, the office that licenses agents. Our licenses page links the complaint page for each of the 42 jurisdictions where our agent is licensed.

Two state examples

Some state exchanges run their own fraud lines. Covered California's is (888) 217-9309, or you can email StopFraud@covered.ca.gov. Georgia Access names agents enrolling people without their knowledge or consent as one example of fraud, and says to report it to the Criminal Investigations Division of Georgia's insurance commissioner's office (OCI).

How the New 2027 Approval Step Protects You

For 2027, CMS is requiring new steps so that only an agent you approve can work on your Marketplace application. In states that use HealthCare.gov, here's what that means for you:

• Your approval comes first. Every application an agent helps with needs your electronic approval. CMS says most people will likely need to re-approve their current agent during Open Enrollment for 2027. The approval lasts for the plan year unless you approve a different agent.
• An ID check in riskier cases. If you're new to the Marketplace, moving to a new agent, or paying $30 a month or less after tax credits, you may first need to pass an ID check, such as questions based on your credit file. HealthCare.gov's materials say its credit-file quiz doesn't affect your credit score. If the check doesn't work, see what to do when HealthCare.gov can't verify your identity.
• A verified SSN or immigration number. Applications an agent helps with must include an SSN or immigration document number that CMS can verify for every applicant except newborns.
• No more changes on an agent's say-so. For Open Enrollment 2027 and beyond, the Marketplace Call Center won't make changes an agent asks for, and three-way calls for agent changes are being retired.
• Your contact details only. The approval goes to a phone number and email you can reach. CMS says agents must never enter their own.

Why now? From 2023 through 2025, CMS received more than 624,000 complaints from people who said they were enrolled or switched without permission, about 300,000 of them in 2025 alone. CMS says gaps in how enrollment sites handled ID checks and agent approval “created opportunities for bad actors to enroll unaware consumers.” Our plain-English guide to the 2027 ID check and agent approval walks through each step.

How FreedInsure Helps

FreedInsure LLC is an independent insurance agency; its licensed agent, Constantino Lardi (NPN 20230457), is licensed in 42 jurisdictions. CMS rules apply to every agent, including us. In a state that uses HealthCare.gov, an agent must record your consent before helping you. You must review and confirm your application before it's sent. For 2027, you may also get a text, email or automated call asking you to approve us. The phone, email and address on your application must be yours. We don't sell Marketplace plans in DC, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Pennsylvania or Virginia. Curious how this works? See what a health insurance broker does.

Got a text, call or letter you're not sure about? Call (844) 788-3733 or use the form below, and a licensed advisor can talk it through with you. For a plan change you didn't approve, call the Marketplace first at 1-800-318-2596.

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