When it comes to fraud, vigilance is your number one weapon.You have the power to protect yourself and your loved ones from scams.
How Does It Work?
- You receive a call or home visit from a home health care agency offering to sign you up for services that Medicare will pay for.
- You get a call or respond to an ad offering state-of-the-art braces to relieve joint pain that Medicare will pay for.
- You get a call claiming that Medicare is sending out new “chip-enabled” Medicare cards.
- You get a call about a special “deal” on a new Medicare plan during open enrollment. It may come with a free gift or limited-time offer.
What should you know?
- Anytime you see an ad or get a call offering you something for “free” from Medicare, it is a scam. Home health services and medical equipment are only covered by Medicare under a doctor’s prescription. These are attempts at getting you to share your Medicare number so that criminals can bill thousands of dollars in fake claims to Medicare.
- Medicare is sticking with the current paper card and is not sending out chip-enabled cards. It’s simply a ploy to get you to share your Medicare number or other sensitive information.
- Legitimate Medicare insurance providers will only contact you if you have previously requested information.
What Should You Do?
- Do not accept “free” products or services in exchange for your Medicare number.
- Hang up on anyone calling and claiming you need a chip-enabled Medicare card.
- If someone calls with a “sounds too good to be true” Medicare Advantage offer, hang up and call the company back directly at a phone number you can independently verify.
When it comes to fraud, awareness and monitoring are your number one weapons.
