CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time now though for some business buzz. The number of health insurance scams is growing. And guess who gets stuck with the bill? That would be you and me. Carrie Lee is live at the Nasdaq market site with more on this answer, including, hopefully, how much. Good morning -- Carrie.</s>CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Unfortunately, this is a growing problem in the United States. The number of illegal health insurance companies has been growing steadily, leaving Americans with unpaid bills and no coverage. Now that's for the finding of a new report by the Commonwealth Fund. The report found that over 100,000 Americans had been left with about $85 million of unpaid medical bills after falling victim to bogus health insurance companies. And part of the reason for this is because health care costs have gotten so expensive that people are often tempted by what seems like a cheaper alternative. Now most of these people, most of the victims are self-employed or maybe owners of small businesses. According to the report, Florida has had the most victims, about 30,000 people. Texas not too far behind, 20,000 victims. In fact, over the past two years, the state's insurance department has closed 129 phony insurance companies, Carol, in the state of Texas alone. So people really have to be careful when they start doing research to buy insurance.</s>COSTELLO: Absolutely. Carrie Lee, we'll see you in the next half hour, many thanks. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Health Insurance Scams on the Rise