Van Hollen Joins Wyden, Senators in Proposing Criminal Penalties, Consumer Protections to Stop Rogue Health Insurance Brokers

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and four of their colleagues in introducing a bill to apply criminal penalties to rogue insurance brokers who are changing Americans’ Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans without their knowledge or consent, and take other steps to strengthen consumer health insurance protections.

The bill, titled the Insurance Fraud Accountability Act, would hold fraudulent insurance brokers and marketers criminally responsible for profiting off of deceptive marketing schemes into health care insurance plans. Rogue brokers use misleading advertising, such as touting free government subsidies, to target low-income individuals and enroll them into insurance plans without their permission. Also, brokers switch customers’ insurance plans without ever contacting them. These changes leave customers with uncovered medical expenses, loss of coverage, disruptions in care, and even tax liabilities that could be up to thousands of dollars from their own pockets.

The bill creates new civil penalties for agents and brokers submitting incorrect information due to negligence and knowingly submitting false or fraudulent information, and criminally responsible for knowingly and willfully providing false or fraudulent information. It also creates a consent verification process for new enrollments and coverage changes, which would include notifying individuals when there has been a change in their enrollment or agent of record, and takes additional steps to bolster consumer protections and transparency.

The bill is also cosponsored by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tammy Duckworth, (D-Ill.), Patty Murray, (D-Wash.), Brian Schatz, and (D-Hawaii).

The bill is endorsed by AHIP, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Kidney Fund, American Lung Association, Arthritis Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Cambia Health Solutions (Regence BCBS), CancerCare, Centene Corporation (Ambetter), Child Neurology Foundation, Chronic Disease Coalition, Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, eHealth, Epilepsy Foundation, Families USA, Hemophilia Fed of America, Immune Deficiency Foundation, Lupus Foundation of America, Muscular Dystrophy Association, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), National Health Council, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, National Patient Advocate Foundation, QuoteVelocity, Susan G. Komen, The AIDS Institute, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, The Mended Hearts, Inc., UnidosUS, WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.

The one-pager is available here. A summary of the bill is available here. The bill text is available here.