Health Insurance Robocalls: Lead Generators, Fake Plans and Your Rights

How these calls work

A recording offers “affordable health plans,” “Obamacare” coverage or a plan “from a major carrier.” Press 1 and a screener asks your age, ZIP code and health status, then transfers you to an agent. The agent may sell a real ACA plan, a short-term plan, or a limited benefit or discount product that is not health insurance at all.

Behind the call there are usually three layers: the dialer, a lead generator that sells your information, and the agency or plan that buys it. Knowing which layer called you, and who paid for the lead, decides whether you have someone to sue.

Regulators have taken these calls seriously

FCC: Rising Eagle, $225 million. On March 17, 2021, the FCC fined Texas-based telemarketers John C. Spiller and Jakob A. Mears, who used names including Rising Eagle and JSquared Telecom, $225 million (Forfeiture Order FCC 21-35). The FCC said they transmitted about 1 billion robocalls in the first four and a half months of 2019, many spoofed, to sell short-term, limited-duration health plans. The calls falsely claimed to offer plans from companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield and Cigna. The FCC said Spiller admitted he made millions of spoofed calls per day and knowingly called people on the Do Not Call list because he believed it was more profitable. The FCC also reported that, as complaints about health robocalls climbed beginning in 2018, about 23.6 million health insurance robocalls were crossing the four largest wireless carriers’ networks each day.

FTC: Simple Health, $195 million. In February 2024, a federal court in the Southern District of Florida entered a $195 million judgment against Simple Health Plans LLC, CEO Steven J. Dorfman and five related companies, and banned them from telemarketing and selling health care products. The FTC alleged they sold limited indemnity plans and medical discount programs as if they were full health insurance, charging consumers up to $500 a month. The FTC said the conduct violated the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

FTC: Top Healthcare Options, January 2026. At the FTC’s request, a federal court in Florida halted an operation the FTC says used websites advertising “Affordable Care Act Plans” and “Obama Care” to collect leads, then sold limited benefit plans and discount memberships as full insurance or PPO plans. The FTC alleges tens of millions of dollars in consumer harm. These are the FTC’s allegations, not court findings.

FTC warning letters to lead generators. In December 2024, the FTC sent warning letters to companies marketing ACA and health-related products, including lead generators. The letters reminded them that the Telemarketing Sales Rule bars robocalls to sell products without express consent and calls to Do Not Call numbers, and that the Impersonation Rule bans falsely claiming to be a government health program or an insurer.

The TCPA rules that give you a claim

Marketing versus health care messages

Not every recorded call from a health company is a sales call. The FCC’s rules give narrow room for health care messages from covered entities, such as prescription refill or appointment reminders. For a residential line, those calls are limited to one per day and three per week (64.1200(a)(3)). A call that sells you a new plan is marketing and does not fit that exemption. If your current insurer calls about your existing policy, that is usually not a TCPA problem unless it uses a recording after you revoked consent.

The “you asked for a quote” defense

Lead-generated calls usually come with a consent claim. The company will say you filled out a form on a quote website. Ask for a copy. Written consent must be signed (electronically is allowed), must authorize that seller, and must cover calls using a recording or autodialer. A generic “partners may contact you” line, or a form you never filled out, often fails that test. Our guide to prior express written consent explains what a valid form looks like.

When you probably do not have a claim

• You did fill out a quote form, it named the company, and it clearly consented to recorded calls.
• A licensed agent called you by hand after you requested a quote, and stopped when asked.
• The caller cannot be traced to any agency or plan.

How to document health insurance calls

1. Save any recorded message. Note whether a voice sounded synthetic.
2. Get the agent’s name, license number and agency, and the plan or carrier being sold.
3. Ask, “Where did you get my number?” Write down the website they name.
4. If you receive an application or policy, keep it. It names the seller.
5. Log calls in our call log so repeat callers stand out.

What to do next about health plan robocalls

If calls keep coming from the same agency or plan, collect the seller’s name and the dates, then ask for a free case review. A lawyer can look at the consent claim, the chain from lead generator to seller, and whether the calls happened within the four-year TCPA window. If the calls are about Medicare plans specifically, our Medicare robocalls guide covers the extra CMS rules. You can also see how sellers become liable for their vendors’ calls.