Be Aware of Medicare Fraud

It is estimated that between 60 and 62 Billion dollars are wasted on health care fraud, errors and abuse.

These dollars can cost tax payers billions of dollars and rob the Medicare Trust fund for future generations.

In the 1990s, Congress decided to institute the Senior Medicare Patrol program (SMP) to help people with Medicare to be more aware of health care fraud and how they could protect themselves, detect suspicious situations, and how to report those cases for further investigations.

ServiceLink contracts with the NH Department of Health and Human Services to provide the Senior Medicare Patrol program (SMP) in New Hampshire.

Every ServiceLink office has a Medicare trained SMP specialist to educate and counsel people on Medicare who have questions about their Medicare billings.

The SMP specialist also conducts education and outreach in the community for people with Medicare and other health care insurance so they will understand the importance of:

checking their billing statements for accuracy
protecting their personal identity, Medicare and Social Security numbers and never giving private information to people they do not know
being alert of telemarketing scams and other people who claim to be calling from Medicare or Social Security

Here are some typical examples of health care fraud, errors, and abuse:

You receive medical supplies in the mail that were not ordered by your doctor.
Your Medicare Summary Notices shows services that you did not received.
A sales agent came to you house uninvited and tried to sell you insurance that you don’t understand or need
A telemarketer tries to offer you free medical supplies but asks for your Medicare number to complete the order.

Special Alert: Medicare Card Changes Means Opportunities for Scams

Congress passed a law in 2015 that requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to remove Social Security numbers from all Medicare cards.

This will start in April 2018. First, new beneficiaries will get the new cards, and then all other Medicare beneficiaries will receive their new cards.

This is an important change to help prevent fraud and protect people’s identity. But in the meantime, scam artists will take advantage of this opportunity to trick unsuspecting people who have Medicare.

Please note:

Medicare beneficiaries are getting “Imposter Calls” from people claiming to be from Medicare, who want to verify current Medicare number and asking for payment to receive a new Medicare card.
Medicare will NEVER call to verify your number because they already have it.
There will be NO COST for people to get their new card.

What You Should Do:

If you get a call like this, hang up immediately and report it to the Senior Medicare Patrol at NH ServiceLink.
Tell your friends and family to be aware of these imposter calls.
Identity theft is on the rise. It is estimated every 60 seconds, someone becomes victim.

Learn how to protect, detect and report health care fraud, identity theft and other scams and link to address

Tips for Avoiding Scams & Swindles

Additional Resources and News:

Portable Document Format (.pdf). Visit nh.gov for a list of free .pdf readers for a variety of operating systems.

ServiceLink Resource Center
Toll Free Number 1-866-634-9412