Regulators in Oregon and around the country are trying to clear up potential confusion among consumers of the new health insurance marketplaces.

Many people who don't get health coverage through Medicare, their employer or the Oregon Health Plan will want to shop for new policies next year as federal changes kick in. Those already insured can stay with their insurer, but may prefer to shop for tax credits or a different plan

Lawmakers set up Cover Oregon as Oregon’s health exchange marketplace, a quasi-governmental public corporation designed to help the uninsured as well as consumers in the individual market get covered.

Polls consistently show many people don't understand the new exchanges, and regulators around the country have issued public warnings that consumers should be wary.

For instance, consumers need to make sure their agent is certified, and they should know that only the state's official website -- coveroregon.com -- can offer tax credits and other savings, says Cover Oregon spokesman Michael Cox.

So far, officials have contacted three agents about their websites, according to Oregon Insurance Commissioner Laura Cali.

Until recently, oregonxchange.com welcomed online visitors with the words "Oregon Health Exchange" in large type, as well as consumer advice taken straight from Cover Oregon materials. But checks of the website prior to Oct. 14 show the website contained no prominent notice that it was a private insurance agency. After being contacted by Oregon Insurance Division regulators, however, the site proclaimed at the top of the page: "We are an independent insurance agency located in Jackson County Oregon."

Medford agent David Cuttrell says he set up the site at oregonxchange.com after taking out business licenses for Oregon Health Exchange and Oregon Health Insurance Exchange, hoping to capitalize on the state exchange's decision to call itself Cover Oregon. There was no intent to deceive consumers, he said. Cali agreed that an initial review didn’t find the site misleading.

His employer, Breeze Financial Group, has set up different phone lines to use the "Oregon Health Exchange" name, but Cuttrell said consumers are not confused by this. "The first thing we explain to them is 'We're a middleman for Cover Oregon.'"

Under the state’s new health exchange, renamed Cover Oregon from Oregon Health Insurance Exchange late last year, more than 1,000 agents have been certified – including Cuttrell’s firm -- to help consumers use the site. In theory, agents and application assisters were certified to be the first to start doing this as of Oct. 1, but unexpected technical challenges have delayed that, hopefully to later this month, officials say.

The Oregon Insurance Division has contacted two other sites over information pertaining to Cover Oregon. One, Coveroregonnow.com, incorrectly indicated a consumer could not go directly to an insurance carrier to enroll, said Oregon Insurance Commissioner Laura Cali. Steve Cox, a West Linn agent who is certified and who set up the site, said there was no intent to deceive and the language on the site was quickly revised.

Officials questioned a third site’s statement that it was "endorsed" by the exchange rather than merely “certified,” by Cover Oregon. The language on www.pibalinsuranceoregon.com was quickly taken down, Cali said.

In other states, but not Oregon, state regulators are taking action against sites with names that seem likely to mislead people into thinking they were connecting to an official state exchange site, according to the Associated Press. In Washington state, one agent removed the language "Welcome to the Exchange" from a site with a similar web address to that state's exchange. In New Hampshire, a site called newhampshirehealthexchange.com was taken down after the state sent a cease-and-desist letter. In Pennsylvania state insurance regulators caused an agent to take down PAhealthexchange.com.

Officials’ main concern is that websites that confuse visitors could lead them to consult with agents who are not certified to qualify consumers for tax credits and other subsidies that are only available through official state-run exchanges.

Cover Oregon officials say they support the efforts of the Oregon Insurance Division and Oregon Department of Justice to clarify any confusion for consumers.

As long as agents have been certified by Cover Oregon and are clearly spreading the word about the site and the subsidies it offers, "we consider that a good thing," said Cox.

However, he recommended consumers always check to make sure their agent is certified by Cover Oregon, either by checking coveroregon.com or calling 1-855-268-3767.

-- Nick Budnick

This article was modified to reflect the following clarification published Oct. 25:

An Oct. 16, 2013, article and headline about insurance exchange websites could have been read to imply that companies were inappropriately trying to confuse Web searchers. The Oregonian has no basis to suggest any such intent. Coveroregonnow.com and the other websites mentioned have not been subject to any request by Oregon regulators to change their site names. The Oregonian regrets publication of any suggestion that the companies were intentionally attempting to confuse users about the nature of their sites.