I first enrolled in Medicare more years ago than I care to relate. Even though during the course of my working life I had garnered more than a passing familiarity with provisions of health insurance policies, I found the number and complexity of available options as to which Medicare supplement and drug coverage would best suit me daunting. After a good bit of study, I made a phone call to a Medicare navigator and was helped enormously by him.
Now it seems things have changed. I suggest you read Medicare’s Open Enrollment Is Open Season for Scammers, which includes an introduction by Yves Smith and an article By Susan Jaffee, originally published at Kaiser Health News.
From the introduction:
While my anecdata is far from perfect, this year, it seems pretty certain that the Medicare Advantage plan hucksters are spending even more on air time than the prior two years when I’ve had the misfortune to be in the room with a TV during commercial breaks. And not only is the shilling as bad as for Thighmasters, weight loss programs, and ambulance chasing law firms, but the pitches are flatly dishonest. ...For instance, the Medicare Advantage shills often talk about prescriptions being “covered,” when anyone who had signed up for health insurance recently knows if they are taking any pricey meds, they need to check if their medication is covered, because odds are decent it won’t be.
This article discusses another level of abuse: of phone reps who lie to consumers and even enroll them in plans without their consent. These practices have become so common that CMS now allows Medicare enrollees a window to back out of plans that have been misrepresented.
Oh, and one of the TV ads described as deceptive in this article sounds exactly like the promotions running nonstop here [rural southern U.S.]. And notice how the scammers are even able to spoof Medicare and local hospital numbers as their caller IDs. Beware!
From Jaffee’s article:
Finding the best private Medicare drug or medical insurance plan among dozens of choices is tough enough without throwing misleading sales tactics into the mix.
Yet federal officials say complaints are rising from seniors tricked into buying policies — without their consent or lured by questionable information — that may not cover their drugs or include their doctors. In response, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has threatened to penalize private insurance companies selling Medicare Advantage and drug plans if they or agents working on their behalf mislead consumers.
The problems are especially prevalent during Medicare’s open-enrollment period, which began Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 7. A common trap begins with a phone call like the one Linda Heimer, an Iowa resident, received in October. She won’t answer the phone unless her caller ID displays a number she recognizes, but this call showed the number of the hospital where her doctor works.
The person on the phone said she needed Heimer’s Medicare number to make sure it was correct for the new card she would receive. When Heimer hesitated, the woman said, “We’re not asking for a Social Security number or bank numbers or anything like that. This is OK.”
“I can’t believe this, but I gave her my card number,” said Heimer. Then the caller asked questions about her medical history and offered to send her a saliva test “absolutely free.” That’s when Heimer became suspicious and hung up. She contacted the 1-800-MEDICARE helpline to get a new Medicare number and called the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline and the Federal Trade Commission.
But later that morning the phone rang again and this time the caller ID displayed a number matching the toll-free Medicare helpline. When she answered, she recognized the voice of the same woman.
“You’re not from Medicare,” Heimer told her.
“Yes, yes, yes, we are,” the woman insisted. Heimer hung up again.
It’s been only two weeks since Heimer disclosed her Medicare number to a stranger and, so far, nothing’s gone wrong. But armed with that number, scammers could bill Medicare for services and medical supplies that beneficiaries never receive, and the scammers could sign seniors up for a Medicare Advantage or drug plan without their knowledge...
These scams take various forms and are a nationwide phenomenon as the story goes on to relate. It’s news you can use. Stay safe out there.