An ill-understood part of the present hard health insurance market is the infiltration of unauthorized1 insurance into the marketplace. Although schemes also existed during past hard market cycles, this time, there seem to be more of them, and they are far more sophisticated than their predecessors. They typically involved intricate combinations of insurance agents, intermediaries of various sorts, administrators, and real or feigned "reinsurers," "unions" or "associations." They present an enormous danger to consumers, employers, health care providers, and to the regulated insurance industry. The danger includes, a huge wake of unpaid claims causing financial damage to consumers and providers, and damage to consumers’ ability to obtain guaranteed-issue replacement coverage.
