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Medicare Scams

By Ed Crowe | General Articles | 0 comment | 30 August, 2023 | 0

Medicare Scams

There are several reasons why Medicare is rife with people trying to scam beneficiaries and businesses alike. For one, the rise of automated and exclusively-online enrollment means that it can be easier to use technology to scam the unsuspecting. Additionally, the population who uses Medicare is mostly elderly, and the elderly are often targets of scams. Medicare also covers an enormous population of people – 65 million at last count in 2023. Additionally, more people become eligible and enroll each year. The federal Medicare program continues to warn beneficiaries to watch out for scammers. Warning particularly people who try to take Medicare ID numbers in order to file false claims. The purpose of Medicare scams is to obtain Medicare payments, which is usually done by filing false claims for services, items, procedures, or equipment. It is estimated that Medicare fraud costs taxpayers billions of dollars each year.

Here are the top three Medicare scams to watch out for right now.

Offers of free genetic testing

With how popular DNA testing has become, it’s no wonder scammers have been using that buzz to commit fraud. The “free genetic testing” is offered under the guise of helping test for diseases or susceptibility to certain illnesses, and find the right medications. The offers most often come over the phone but there are some reported door-to-door attempts as well.

Calls or emails about free medical equipment

Scammers are also disguising themselves for other scams. Some people attempting to commit fraud are pretending to be Medicare representatives and making unsolicited calls to people under the guise of offering them free medical devices such as back braces, canes, walkers, or even wheelchairs. These callers have been reported to be extremely persistent, even asking the beneficiaries to accept the equipment simply because it is free if they do not need it. When the beneficiaries agree, the scammers then ask for their Medicare ID number, which gives them access to their private medical information and records.

Solicitations for other services

These attempts at fraud are sometimes called Medicare Call Scams. Often they are robocalls, but there are live people making these calls as well. Their goal is to get the Medicare ID number, social security number, or other personal information about their targets. The scammers often do this by doing their research, knowing some things about their target, and pretending to be Medicare representatives.

In order to protect themselves against these three common scams, Medicare beneficiaries should always remember that Medicare will not reach out to beneficiaries via call or email unless they are answering their inquiry. Medicare will also never offer free gifts, medical equipment, or any other service for free. Calls requesting health care information should, as a rule, not be trusted.