How to Prevent Medicaid and Medicare Fraud

A growing problem among senior citizens is Medicare Fraud.  Dishonest people can steal your Medicare information and use it to let other people obtain medical treatment in your name.  Criminals have been known to even purchase drugs for their own use or to sell.  This type of Medicare fraud and medical identity theft can cause serious problems for innocent people when they visit a doctor or they try to fill a prescription, only to discover that someone else has already used their benefits.  For example, a pharmacy may refuse to refill a prescription for painkillers if they believe you have already filled it recently.  Fortunately, there are steps you can take to prevent this from happening to you.

Steps to Prevent Medicare Fraud

*  Do not carry your Medicare or Medicaid card around, except when you will need it for a visit to a doctor, hospital or pharmacy.

*  Never give your Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security numbers out over the phone to a stranger.  Legitimate agencies will never call you and ask for your number; government departments will never contact you to sell you a product.

*  Carefully examine your Medicare Summary Notice (MSN) and Part D Explanation of Benefits (EOB) for mistakes.  Make sure they do not list things like:  visits to doctors you did not see, services or treatments you did not get, double billing, or drug purchases you did not make.

*  If you see suspicious activity on your MSN or EOB, you can report it to the Senior Medicare Patrol.  They have a website at www.smpresource.org and they can put you in touch with the proper authorities in your state.

Don't become a victim of Medicare Fraud and don't let someone else misuse your information.

In addition, if you have an elderly relative, you may want to help them out by checking any paperwork they receive from Medicare. It could save them, and you, a lot of problems later on.

Resources to help you:

www.smpresource.org
www.stopmedicarefraud.gov

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