Obamacare causes spike in health insurance scams

Law enforcement agencies are reporting a spike in health insurance scams across the country, many of which are preying on the public's confusion over the massive changes taking place in the nation's health care system.

One recent morning, 86-year-old Evelyne Lois Such was sitting at her kitchen table in Denver when the phone rang.  She didn’t recognize the phone number or the deep voice on the other end of the line. “He asked if I was a senior, and I said yes, and he said we are sending out all new Medicare cards and I want to make sure I have all of your statistics correct,” Such recounts.

At first, the caller didn’t seem too fishy; he started by running through her address and phone number, just to make sure they were right. But then he read off a series of numbers and asked if it was her bank routing number. “I didn’t know really at the time whether it was or not, but I just said no. He said, well could you give it to me so I’ll have it correctly, and I said, well I’m not so sure about that. And he started to say something and I hung up.” Read more >>

ID Theft Fraud At All-Time High

Toss out all your preconceived notions about identity theft impacting older people in big cities who mainly do business via “snail mail”–i.e. the mailbox. A new government report gives insight on where it’s happening and to whom…and it may not be who, where, or how you think!

At least two million people across the country are recovering from identity theft. The fraud is at an all-time high, according to the Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, a report released by the Federal Trade Commission.

“I don’t know how but someone over in Colorado at the time, got my information,” says 28-year-old Clarity Smith.

The Plano woman is the typical identity theft victim. She’s in her 20’s and a recent college graduate who spends a lot of time on the computer.

“They had my social security, driver’s license, billing address….”

After finishing college, Smith posted applications on several online job sites. She suspects that’s how someone in Denver stole her identity.

“They went from department store to department store at three different malls over two days and opened up lines of credit.” Read more >>

Marijuana and the ultimate showdown with feds

First came marijuana as medicine. Now comes legal pot for the people. Those who have argued for decades that legalizing and taxing weed would be better than a costly, failed U.S. drug war have their chance to prove it, as Colorado and Washington became the first states to allow pot for recreational use.

While the measures earned support from broad swaths of the electorate in both states Tuesday, they are likely to face resistance from federal drug warriors. As of Wednesday, authorities did not say whether they would challenge the new laws.

Pot advocates say a fight is exactly what they want. "I think we are at a tipping point on marijuana policy," said Brian Vicente, co-author of Colorado's marijuana measure. "We are going to see whether marijuana prohibition survives, or whether we should try a new and more sensible approach."

Soon after the measures passed, cheering people poured out of bars in Denver, the tangy scent of pot filling the air, and others in Seattle lit up in celebration.

Authorities in Colorado, however, urged caution. "Federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly," said Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who opposed the measure.

As the initial celebration dies down and the process to implement the laws progresses over the next year, other states and countries will be watching to see if the measures can both help reduce money going to drug cartels and raise it for governments. Read more >>

Home Prices Fall to Lowest in 10 years

Home prices hit new post-bubble lows in March. Average home prices were down 2.6% from 12 months earlier, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major markets. Home prices have not been this low since mid-2002.

In 13 of the 20 cities, average home prices fell in March from the year before. Atlanta fared the worst, with home prices down 17.7% year over year. Home prices in Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit and Las Vegas are all below their January 2000 levels.

Alternatively, Phoenix posted the largest gain, with prices up 6.1% from last year. Other cities showing an uptick included Dallas, Denver and Miami. Overall, the 20-city composite is down about 35% from its peak in 2006. Read more >>