Consumers Warned of Misleading Insurance Websites

Insurance regulators and an industry trade group warn that this month’s rollout of the health insurance marketplaces created by federal law opened the door for bad actors at the same time that it gives brokers and agents a business opportunity.

New Hampshire’s insurance commissioner sent a cease-and-desist letter last week to an Arizona company he accused of building a website that could mislead health care coverage shoppers into thinking it was the official New Hampshire marketplace. The site was taken down on Friday.

Regulators in Washington state and Pennsylvania also have told private agents to change websites that seemed likely to convince consumers they were connecting to government-run sites. Connecticut’s insurance department warned agents and brokers this summer that it will take action against agents who mislead consumers or design sites to replicate the state-run exchange.