MedFirst 1 (First Health Network) Insurance Scam

I'm located in California, USA. I lost my job and needed insurance. I had to get insurance quickly to cover my prescriptions. I did a search for MediCal and a website came up that looked official. I entered my information and someone called me immediately to set up a plan. They told me it's a $290/month PPO insurance plan. Reviewed all my benefits, it sounded good so I signed up.

Immediately after, I proceed to get literally hundreds of calls from other "providers" trying to sell me insurance. I went back to the website and realized I made a huge mistake, and the website is just a website made to look exactly like the covered California site and that it's really just a broker who was giving away my information to thousands of people. They even buy ads for all covered California searches and Medicare searches so it seems like their sites are legitimate in the search. I should have been more diligent but I have never bought insurance before except through work, which obviously has its protections.

Now I'm 2 days past 30 days after my effective date (which apparently they would have refunded me if I tried to cancel). I went to pick up my prescription and they said it would be $500 (-$100 from the $600 total cost). I tried to use a coupon that brings it down to $25, but it kept getting denied because I'm "uninsured" and it's only for insured patients. I called the insurance company and the agent company and they told me once again that I bought a PPO insurance plan and it is approved by the state of California as an insurance plan. The pharmacy is swearing this is not insurance at all, it's just a discount card.

I really don't know what to do. I have now lost almost $600, can't afford my medicine, can't use any discounts, and apparently am paying some fraudulent website for a discount card? That they say is a PPO plan? Do I have any legal recourse to this? Does anyone have any more information?

Is this just an error, or is it a scam? I'm so confused and I don't know what to do.

submitted by /u/dreamrecord
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