Scammers are using the implementation of the ObamaCare as the latest opportunity to steal people’s identities, said Gabriela Mendoza, Better Business Bureau assistant director of business services for Central California.

Obamacare scams come in a variety of forms. Consumers’ complaints allege that scammers are contacting them by phone, fax, email and even in person. Some scammers claim to be government employees, tricking consumers into revealing their bank account numbers in order to sign up for fake health care plans. Others are asking for social security numbers in order for consumers to continue their eligibility for Medicare.

Mendoza explained that the most recent scam involves consumers getting a phone call from someone claiming to be from the government. The caller tells the potential victim that he or she needs an ObamaCare insurance card. Then the con artist tells the consumer that he or she must provide personal information such as a bank account or social security number in order to get the card.

“Never give out personal information over the phone,” Mendoza warned.

If scammers get your information, they may commit identity theft, charge your credit cards, empty your checking account or open new credit cards or bank accounts. They could try to take out loans in your name, or trick you into buying or mailing “pre-paid cards” to pay for coverage.

Certain fraudsters are intimidating consumers into disclosing information by claiming “it’s the law” or that “the government now requires it.” Some consumers are threatened with jail time if they do not purchase fake insurance cards. The only financial penalties associated with families and individuals who don’t obtain insurance doesn’t take effect until 2014 and contains no jail penalty.

In addition, the only place you can get ACA insurance is through the Health Insurance Marketplace, where you can find health coverage that fits your budget and meets your needs. In California, the marketplace is at CoveredCa.com. If you already have insurance, you don’t need to do anything. Seniors are especially targeted, so the AARP is reminding seniors that if they already have Medicare or Medicaid, they don’t need to do anything.

“Consumers must be vigilant,” said Eric Kanefsky, director of the FTC, Division of Consumer Affairs. “Con artists are constantly seeking new ways to dupe victims into giving up their bank account information and opening themselves up to identity theft. During the coming months, many will prey on confusion about the Affordable Care Act.”

Blair Looney, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Central California says, “Consumers should always be cautious when anyone calls you asking for personal information of any kind.” The government will never call you, so if you receive such a call hang up, he added.

Mendoza said that reports of these scams have not yet hit the Central Valley, but cases have been reported throughout California and the nation. The FTC said it expects complaints to rise once health insurance exchanges are in full swing.

To be prepared, the BBB has issued these tips:

• Hang up. If you get one of these calls, just hang up. You may be tempted to call back, but this will only give the scammer another opportunity to steal your information. Also, be sure not to press any buttons the scammer instructs.
• Never give out personal information. Never give out your bank account numbers, date of birth, credit cards or Social Security number.
• Don’t rely on caller ID. Some scammers are able to display a company’s name or phone number on the caller ID screen. Don’t trust that the information you see is true.
• Get informed. Find out how the health care reform affects you. Visit the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s website HealthCare.gov.
• Get help. In the event that you give your personal information to an ObamaCare fraudster, inform your banks, credit card providers and the three major credit bureaus, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax, so that they can be on the lookout for potential identity thieves.

The FTC also warned consumers to be savvy online. The official marketplace websites are healthcare.gov, and in this state, CoveredCa.com. Before you visit one of these sites, make sure you type the address correctly. Some shady types have started websites that are just one mistyped letter away from the real thing.

The fake sites look authentic, and some may even post official-looking government seals and logos to deceive you. Also, never click on a link that has been emailed to you. Scammers can embed malicious code and infect your computer with spyware. If you do visit a website, type the URL in the browser yourself.

The post Beware of ObamaCare Scams appeared first on Valley Voice.

The U.S. Department of Labor also has downloadable templates for employers to use to make it easier to meet the notification requirement. There are templates for employers who offer insurance and those who do not offer insurance. The notifications must be delivered in writing. For information and to access the downloadable forms, visit dol.gov/ebsa/healthreform.

Although there is no fine for not complying with the notification requirement, companies who do not meet it will be out of compliance.

On October 1st, Covered California, the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace, will also be accessible for all businesses with 50 employees or less. The rates, which vary by region, are said to be comparable to those previously only available to large companies. The Obama Administration contends that many firms that do not currently offer coverage will be more likely to do so because of lower premiums and wider choices in the exchanges.

Companies that do offer insurance are also eligible for a substantial tax credit. Businesses with fewer than 25 full-time employees making less than $50,000 a year may qualify for a small business health care tax credit. Starting in 2014, the tax credit is worth up to 50% of the contribution toward employee premium costs (up to 35% for tax-exempt employers). This will make the cost of providing health coverage lower.

The credits are also advance-able, so businesses can pay lower health insurance premiums each month rather than wait for a whopping reimbursement check come tax time. It is also refundable, so even people with moderate incomes can get the full benefit of the credit.

To see if you qualify for the credit, visit IRS.gov that has an online calculator and additional information about qualifying for the credits. If you currently get the credit, it is important to make sure your insurance is through the insurance exchange or a qualified broker to continue to receive the tax credit after 2014. Also, if you qualify for the credit, don’t forget to claim it. The Government Accountability Office reported that many businesses don’t claim the credit even though they are qualified.

Glenn Morris, president/CEO of the Visalia Chamber of Commerce, echoed other local chamber executives around the Valley, “At this point, our advice is to get as much information and education as possible prior to making any final decisions.

“We recommend that business owners take the time to meet with their brokers/agents and to do as much independent research as they can so that they know what their options are relative to the new law.”

Sandy Blankenship, director of Exeter Chamber of Commerce, said most of the businesses in Exeter are very small and don’t offer insurance. Very few businesses have even called to ask about the Affordable Care Act. “To be honest with you, I don’t know enough about it because it keeps changing,” she said. So she refers them to a local broker who has kept up to date on all the changes and known for his integrity.

“We don’t expect a lot of companies to run out and sign up,” Blankenship said.

Lindsay Wellness Center Director Marie Arroyo also said businesses in Lindsay weren’t waiting with baited breath for the marketplace to open. “I don’t think there’s any employer here right now that’s planning on signing up,” Arroyo said.

According to a recent poll by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 82% of small business owners didn’t know what the Health Insurance Exchange was. The poll also showed that 56% of exempt small business owners still believe they are required to provide insurance.

In 2015, large companies that don’t offer insurance face penalties of up to $2,000 per employee. This mandate applies only to businesses with 50 or more people who work upwards of 30 hours a week. That makes 96% of employers exempt. Yet a majority of business owners with fewer than 50 workers believe the mandate applies to them, according to a recent survey of 259 companies by online insurance marketplace EHealth.

Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, said the reason businesses don’t offer health plans is not because there weren’t penalties. “Surprise! It’s because up until now it’s been unaffordable,” he said at a town hall. The Health Insurance Exchange will address that barrier, he said, by giving businesses access to multiple, competitively-priced plans and control over how much they pay for premiums.

On October 1st through March 31, 2014, small businesses can check out the plans offered and their potential savings by visiting CoveredCA.com in the SHOP, (Small Business Health Plan Options Program) area. Business will need to provide their Employer Identification Number, Tax ID and number of employees (and their employees’ dependents if they choose to cover them). Call 1-800-706-7893, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with any questions on Covered California’s SHOP program.

“The majority of our small business owners are very concerned about increasing their costs to provide new benefits,” said Morris. “I don’t think that anyone has a quarrel with the objectives of the initiative – ensuring that families have access to affordable care. The concern is with the methodology chosen which puts the burden of that effort on employers and, in particular, small businesses. Given the fact that we’re just starting to come out of the most difficult economic period in a generation makes it even more difficult to increase the cost of operations right now.”

Starting in 2014, all plans will offer the same basic coverage that fall under the “Essential Health Benefits” as defined by Obamacare. These services include doctor visits, hospitalization, emergency care, maternity and newborn care, pediatrics, prescriptions, medical tests, mental health care and others. Plans must also cover preventive care services like mammograms and colonoscopies with no out-of-pocket cost to consumers. Ward said because the plans are the same, many employers who already offer insurance will not switch to the ObamaCare Health Insurance Exchange.

“We don’t see a large migration for small businesses to the exchange,” said Ward.

“The only advantage for small employers with 25 or less employees are tax credits. But small employers must meet certain qualifications,” he said. “Brokers should be able to answer employer questions and provide quotes for inside the shop exchange and outside the exchange.”

To qualify for the tax credit, businesses must have less than 25 employees earning below $50,000 annually, and the company must pay at least 50 percent of insurance premiums. Credits are available on a sliding scale. Employers with ten or fewer employees and average wages of less than $25,000 are eligible for the full credit.

“The major concerns that I hear about the Affordable Care Act center around two themes,” said Morris. “One is the potential for increasing the cost of doing business, along with restricting business owners’ flexibility in controlling their costs. The second is the potential impact that the act may have on employment as businesses decide either to not hire more people or to restrict hours (and income) to avoid the costs of the requirements.”

The area’s largest industry, agriculture, may be the most impacted by ObamaCare, Ward added.

“Farmers that have employees that work 30 hours per week will have to offer insurance or pay penalties come 2015. Seasonal workers may be included if the seasonal employee is deemed to work 30 hours per week, meeting the ACA definition,” he said.

Tricia Stever Blattler, executive director of the Tulare County Farm Bureau, said, “Farmers are taking a wait-and-see attitude,” on how they will deal with the Affordable Care Act. “They may be extremely adversely affected by the possible applications of the law. Its hard to make any generalizations.” The bureau held several workshops in the winter to educate farmers on the law.

“The food processing and preparation industries will be the most affected because they have the most full-time employees,” Blattler said.

“Agricultural businesses need to be mindful of the special consideration PPACA provides for seasonal workers, which make up a great deal of the agricultural workforce,” according to California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF). The CFBF is the state’s largest farm organization, comprised of 53 county farm bureaus currently representing more than 74,000 agricultural, associate and collegiate members in 56 counties.

The employer mandate, which requires a business with over 50 full-time employees to provide insurance, exempts seasonal workers. However, the definition of seasonal workers has caused some confusion. “A seasonal employee is one who works for less than 120 days. Anyone who works less is not counted among the 50 you must employ to be a large employer required to offer coverage,” said Bryan Little, CFBF, labor relations.

According to the CFBF, the IRS has stated that an employer can use its own reasonable definition of ‘seasonal’ and determine an employee’s full-time status by looking at a 12-month measurement period. “Examining employment over a 12-month period leads to the conclusion that seasonal workers are not full-time employees that must be provided health care insurance coverage because, although they may work more than 30 hours per week, they are not employed continuously for a 12-month period.”

According to a report issued by the Center for Rural Affairs, one-third of farmers purchase health insurance directly from an insurance company. This is more than three times the national average. If the ObamaCare marketplace is successful in bringing down the cost of insurance, local agricultural businesses stand to benefit significantly from the new marketplaces, the report concluded.

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Few people know that there’s a woman making history in Visalia.

“I’m rare,” admits Jennifer Pendergraft, general manager of the Visalia Rawhide. “I know I’m one of only nine female GMs… I think its one of those things that after I’m out of it, I’ll look back and be like, ‘Dang, that was really cool.'”

Right now, however, Pendergraft is too busy working to dwell on her place in the history of professional baseball. As a general manager, Pendergraft has a lot of responsibilities, from managing the park facility to community involvement, to making sure the team’s vision for the future is kept on track. The job requires a lot of hours and commitment, whether you’re a man or a woman.

“Like other sports, baseball has traditionally been male dominated,” said California League President Charlie Blaney, “but fortunately, that is changing, thanks to the great work of people like Jen.” He added that Pendergraft was a very hardworking and loyal assistant general manager for several years. “Quite simply, she has earned the promotion.”

“Baseball is so traditional,” Pendergraft says. “So much of it’s been done the same way for years and years and years and years.” In some ways, she says, that’s been an advantage for her. “I’m very much an out-of-the box type of thinker and I read between the lines. I just kind of make judgment calls based on what I’m feeling and what I’m seeing and the big picture.” Sometimes, others look at her as if to ask, “Who’s this girl?” Many times, however, they find it refreshing. She can make changes because she’s not stuck in one mindset. “I think they see that, too.”

Blaney agrees, “In the short time Jen has been GM, she has earned the praise and respect from all those who have worked with her: her staff, fellow GMs and the umpires.”

Tom Seidler, president of the Visalia Rawhide, said gender was not an issue in hiring a general manager.

“Absolutely not. I hired the best person for the job,” he said. “She’s been the best employee I’ve hired in 20 years in baseball. I couldn’t be more proud of what she has accomplished for the Rawhide and as a leader in the Visalia community. She understands that a professional baseball team isn’t just a business, but also a public trust and a community asset.

“The ballpark,” Seidler added, “has hosted more events this year than any time in its 68-year history – truly the community gathering place.”

While women are still outnumbered in the industry, things are definitely changing from how they were 20 years ago, Seidler said. “Jennifer, and other women GMs today, serve as role models to future female executives.”

“I’m comfortable being a role model,” Pendergraft says, and she has advice for young girls looking to get into the field. “We have a lot more eyes on us, not that people are waiting for us to mess up, but because we are not a part of the tradition of this sport. It’s not traditional for a woman to be involved. So, for you to be embraced and accepted into this man’s world, it takes a lot. You have to have thick skin. You have to have a really high work ethic. If a guy has the same work ethic as you, it’s more natural for this industry to lean towards the male. It’s a better fit for them. Women have to work especially hard to get their feet in the door.”

Pendergraft enjoys going to schools on career days and offering advice to those interested in going into baseball as a career. This advice is something she wishes she had been given when she was in school. “I kind of stumbled into working into baseball,” she said.

Pendergraft grew up in Oregon and knew that Portland was the headquarters for sports companies such as Nike, Adidas, Columbia Sportswear and a softball-specific company called Ringer. So she majored in business with an emphasis on graphic design, hoping to get a position at one of those companies. “I wanted to work in sports in some way,” she said. When she was about to graduate from Lee University in Tennessee, she searched Google for positions that would allow her to work in sports.

“I just happened across a website called PBEO.com,” she said about the Professional Baseball Employment Opportunities website, where teams post their job openings. “Before I stumbled across that, I hadn’t even considered working for a sports team. When you go as a fan, you don’t really think about what goes on behind the scenes at all. And, the more I read though those job descriptions, I was like, you know that might be right up my alley.”

Pendergraft took a swing at it and submitted a resume. “I thought it was kind of a long shot because at that point I really had no true work experience because softball had been my job. I played that to get myself through school.”

Pendergraft played softball for Amity High School in Oregon, and Lee University in Tennessee.

“Nine was my softball number too,” she smiled, pointing out that as the ninth currently serving female general manager, the number has been lucky for her. “I’m not sure why I’m the chosen one but its pretty cool. Every time I think about it I just kind of get really humbled.”

After graduation, Pendergraft had two choices. She could take a position at Ringer, the softball brand in Portland, or take the internship at Visalia Rawhide.

“I chose this just to get into it and see what it was all about,” she explained. “I figured I would regret it if I didn’t. And, I’m glad I did, because I found my passion.”

Visalia was a perfect fit for her. “I’m from a really small town, really small town. I graduated with 65 people in my high school class. This is the biggest city I’ve ever lived in.” Combined with her love for hot weather and the high level of community involvement, Visalia was the perfect place.

“It’s such a small town feel and the community is so passionate for its organizations and its baseball team and everything so it’s easy to feed off of their passion and it was easy to get involved with the community and just dive in.”

After the one-year internship, she’d made up her mind. “I just fell in love with everything about it.”

Her parents, Jodee and Scott Pendergraft, she said, thought she was a little crazy. “A lot of it was because they were kind of like me. They didn’t really understand what it entailed and so to them it was more like, ‘How on earth can you make a career out of that?’”

“At first I didn’t really think it was going to be a career,” her father explained. “I know the pay isn’t that good, and she had some other job opportunities, so I assumed it would be a fun little adventure for a couple of years. Little did I know that it might turn into something more long term.”

He also admits, “Another feeling I had was a bit of jealousy. How sweet is it to have a ballpark as your office?”

He was never worried about her decision, however. At the worst, he considered it a short-term adventure before she got a “real job.” He would never try to talk her out of her dream.

“Jennifer is a very strong person, so I knew she could hold her own,” he said. “My perception of the baseball business back then was you had to be related to someone to really get ahead, so I feared she would hit some sort of glass ceiling at some point. Thanks to a kind and generous person like Tom Seidler; he’s rewarded her for the blood, sweat and tears she puts into her work.”

“Baseball is a lot of hard work,” Seidler said. “We frequently work 12 to 14-hour days, often seven days a week.” Working that close with people for long hours, you start to think of each other as family.

“There’s also a lot of times when you pitch in and help someone else in a different department, whether it’s receiving shipments of peanuts or distributing pocket schedules around the community, so we all ‘pitch-in’ and help out as members of a family would,” Seidler explains. “One reason why Jennifer got to her current position is she was always helping out others on staff and making us better as an organization.

“Another integral part of the Rawhide family is our host families,” he said. “Jennifer has managed and improved that program each year, to where it is now the best in the country. One hundred percent of players and coaches live with host families, and the relationship between local Visalia families and these professional baseball players continues as players move up to the major leagues.”

Being a former player, the players are nearest to Pendergraft’s heart. “I think the league has the potential to raise their minor league players not only on the field but off the field through community involvement and through public speaking and through all of these things they’re going to need to do at the major league level,” she says.

The Rawhide is the farm team for the Arizona Diamondbacks so the ultimate goal is to help them move comfortably into the major league environment. “They need to start learning now.” To help develop the players, Pendergraft started a player community outreach program.

The players are split into groups of five community teams, rotating them to give them exposure in five areas including schools, sports (like a baseball camp), business (speaking at service clubs), media (interviews for newspapers, radio and TV) and community service (serving food at the Visalia Rescue Mission). “I want them to get exposure in all this. It’s going to be uncomfortable, but they need to learn that.” Baseball, she said, is not all about what you do on the field.

“You need your players to be able to conduct themselves professionally and you need them to be able to speak to different crowds,” she says. “You need them to be a fan favorite so that they fill the seats, you can sell their t-shirts, they get votes for the all-star team, you know. It’s all part of the game.”

The program wasn’t met with enthusiasm with everyone in the ballclub, Rawhide Manager Bill Plummer admits. “We had a few clashes at the start.” Initially, players were being scheduled to be out in the community too close to game time. As the director of player development, that caused him some concern. “But we worked it out,” he said, adding that program has been great for the community. “Jennifer’s done a great job. I think she’s going to be an outstanding GM. She’s so energetic and has a lot of good ideas.”

While Pendergraft has no say in whether a player moves up, she is able to see their potential as a marketing figure. “I can tell you if they have the skills to correlate, if they’re going to be a fan favorite, and if they have marketability. I wish, if it came down to choosing one player against another who has equal skills on the field, if the Diamondbacks would ask for some feedback and say ‘Hey, how does he interact with the fans and the community?’ I think that should be the element that takes a player one above another. That should be the deciding factor when it comes down to an even playing field. And, that’s never come up. I wish it would, because that’s the business side of it. There’s only so much that can be done on the field. There’s also off the field too.”

The host family program also encourages a family atmosphere at the ballpark. “If you go to games, our host families are everywhere and they feel like their boy is on the field. So they’re more than happy to share with you more about them and their personality, which helps everyone get to know these guys a lot better too because they are directly connected with the community. They’ve lived here with these families and they’re going to remember that for the rest of their life too. It’s given Visalia a really good name.”

The Rawhide has become a second family for Pendergraft. “I have people asking me, ‘How are you still single? Why aren’t you married?’ – I’m married to my job and I have 30 boys six months out of the year.”

“Beyond the 80+ hour weeks at work,” Seidler said, Pendergraft “is selfless with her free time. She has been involved with the community since day one, volunteers her time, helps out local charities and organizations.

“Whether it’s raising money for the Creative Center (she’s a two-time Mardi Gras Fundrasing Queen) or volunteering with Happy Trails, her Rotary Club, or the Miracle League, she’s a tireless champion and supporter of the Visalia community,” he said.

Although most of her “free time” includes participating in community groups such as the Rotary, this past year she joined the V Town Derby Dames, the local roller derby team. “I’ve had a blast just getting to know them and working with them.” However, she hasn’t been able to play a game with them yet because their games conflict with the Rawhide’s season. “The next home game I can participate in isn’t until October so I have my eyes set for that one.”

As a former player, being away from the competition can be hard for some to get used to but Pendergraft doesn’t miss it.

“I thought that I might. I direct my energies into a different path. Instead of working really hard on the field, I’m working really hard in the office. So, its just keeping that same pattern. It’s the same adrenaline rush. It’s the same emotions. It’s the perfect transition for me.”

Up until she took the job in Visalia, softball had been her entire life. “For me, the transition in this industry was perfect because I was on the same schedule.”

She’s seen players who get released having a hard time making a transition out of baseball. “Its so hard to give up something that’s been a part of your life for so many years and for these guys they did it professionally; they did it all through college, all through high school.” She makes it a point to talk to the players, even the coaches some times, to get them thinking about what they would do if they didn’t have baseball.

“Some of them have a plan and they know what they’ll do – a lot of family-run companies and what-not, but some of them just have no idea at all and they haven’t even thought about it and that’s dangerous,” Pendergraft says. “And so I’ll kind of drop suggestions. Working in baseball is pretty fun and its a lot of work, but at least in terms of your scheduling it doesn’t throw you out of whack and you still feel like you’re a part of the game.”

Pendergraft’s biggest frustration is that it takes a long time to make changes. “I like things to happen very quickly,” she says. “I make sure that things happen very quickly if it’s in my hands. But a lot of the time it’s out of my hands and you have to change the mentality of everyone that’s been in the game for years and years and years. I’ve come to find that its very challenging and sometimes its not even possible but, by golly, I’m still going to try.”

Pendergraft credits Seidler for giving her the confidence to make changes that she thinks needs to be made.

“He’s just always said, whatever you want to do run with it. Run it by me first to make sure I’m on board and its in that same direction we want the organization to go. But he’s let me take stuff and run with it. He’s never, obviously, never discriminated against my gender, my age, anything. And I know for a fact, I couldn’t have gone anywhere else and worked for any other team and gone on the same path that I have with him.

“I’m very lucky and I know that,” said Pendergraft about being one of the small group of women chosen to be general managers.

Her father, however, points out that it had nothing to do with luck. “When Jennifer sets her mind to something, she does not fail,” says her father proudly. “No one will outwork her. Whether she chose this occupation or any other, I knew she would be successful.”

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