Medicare Fraud

[Jerry Bruette]

You've got to be kidding me.

My wife turned 64 in Dec. isn't anywhere near getting her medicare card and we got a call this morning from some dirtbag trying to steal a medicare number she doesn't even have yet.

I wish these people (politically correct term because I can't call them what I'd like) would put as much effort into getting a real job as they put into trying to screw people out of their money.

What's the best way to help diminish the number of scams we're about to be bombarded with?

[Dave Anderson NH]

There is no best way Jerry. As long as there are the careless, the clueless, the gullible, and the uninformed there will be "marks" for the scammers. Reprehensible as it is, its a profitable job for them. I wish it were not so, but we deal with life as it is, not as we wish it to be.

[Ted Calver]

Well said, Dave. I help a digitally challenged widow friend with her computer and Iphone and she is frequently calling and asking me about someone who has called her and wanted personal information for some good deal (scam). She's been lucky so far, but as gullible as she is it may only be a matter of time.

[Brian Runau]

I had a guy call me on my cell saying he was with the IRS and I owed them money. Government would never call, they document in writing. He argued with me when I called him a scammer.

Careful with advantage plans, they seem to cover a lot up front, but have to pay for that in the overall benefits of the plan. We are blessed to be able to afford a plan G supplement that pays 20% balance medicare doesn't cover. Brian

[jack duren]

I got a call about 20 minutes ago from my insurance girl for dialysis about getting free prescriptions and was approved. My doctor wanted to put me on a $12,000 a year medication. It’s free now and will be sent Friday.. Not all calls are bad..

[Mark Hennebury]

Vlad had a way of discouraging troublemakers, A little subtle, but they got the point.

515165

[Jim Koepke]

Many of these calls are coming from overseas.

I get calls almost daily. When the caller ID looks hinky, I'll answer with my usual "hello." Most of the time there is a pause and maybe some connection noise. I'll hold my landline handset over the base and as soon as the caller says "hello" the phone is dropped on the cradle.

No one that I know, will after I say "hello" wait a few seconds and then say "hello" and wait for me to respond. That is like Telephone Calling 101.

If I'm feeling like having fun, when they say "hello" I will say, "is your car warrantee about to expire and leave you having to pay for costly repairs?"

I usually don't get past "expire" before hearing the click of them hanging up.

jtk

[Doug Garson]

Don't answer the call. We get dozens of calls every week from numbers we don't recognize. We let them go to the answering machine, if they were legitimate calls they would leave a message which we could respond to. They never do. I think most of the calls are robo calls and eventually they drop your number from the list if they never get answered. Answer once and I think your number gets elevated to a higher priority.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The callers are often from just down the street, in another county or state, they aren't just located in foreign countries. I pray that my wife and I don't get to the point where we are susceptible to those scammers.

[Rich Engelhardt]

We had a DJ on the radio in the morning drive slot.
One of his favorite sayings was, "Every day, 1/2 of the world gets up and tries to figure out how to screw the other half out of what they have".

[Lee Schierer]

We have made it a habit to never answer the phone if we don't recognize the number or the caller I.D. If it is someone we know they are invited to leave a message and we do return calls. Our VOIP provider also lets us block repeat robo callers.

If you want to be entertained, answer the cal and have them repeat a lot of stuff and ask totally unrelated questions. The object of the game is to keep the caller on the line as long as possible. A friend who recommended this tactic kept one caller on line for 20 minutes.

[Jerry Bruette]

Don't answer the call. We get dozens of calls every week from numbers we don't recognize. We let them go to the answering machine, if they were legitimate calls they would leave a message which we could respond to. They never do. I think most of the calls are robo calls and eventually they drop your number from the list if they never get answered. Answer once and I think your number gets elevated to a higher priority.

My wife had answered the phone. The only reason she did is because they had spoofed the name and number of a local medical clinic/hospital that we deal with. I told her we have to be vigilant about protecting the info after we actually have it.

[Barry McFadden]

My cell phone came with a call screen feature. When I get a call from a number I don't know I push the "Call Screen" button and I get a text on the screen of what the other person is hearing. It goes something like this.... "the person you are calling is using a call screen feature and will get a transcript of this call. state your name and purpose of this call to be connected". The call always disconnects immediately.

[Ronald Blue]

I had a guy call me on my cell saying he was with the IRS and I owed them money. Government would never call, they document in writing. He argued with me when I called him a scammer.

Careful with advantage plans, they seem to cover a lot up front, but have to pay for that in the overall benefits of the plan. We are blessed to be able to afford a plan G supplement that pays 20% balance medicare doesn't cover. Brian

When you make statements like this it appears to be based on what you have heard and not what you have experienced. Benefit availability is dictated by where you live and what providers are available in your network. An Advantage plan may or may not be the best fit for an individual. It's easy to look on the Medicare site (account required) and compare plans. Your home zip code is required because coverage availability is controlled by your state and location therein. The other thing that is a certainty is your supplement will increase in cost probably yearly.

[Earl McLain]

When you make statements like this it appears to be based on what you have heard and not what you have experienced. Benefit availability is dictated by where you live and what providers are available in your network. An Advantage plan may or may not be the best fit for an individual. It's easy to look on the Medicare site (account required) and compare plans. Your home zip code is required because coverage availability is controlled by your state and location therein. The other thing that is a certainty is your supplement will increase in cost probably yearly.

Some Advantage plans are probably very misleading, but there are good ones. When my wife became Medicare eligible due to disability last November at age 60, our choices were Supplement A (at a crazy premium) or one of the available Advantage plans. We opted for UHC's Advantage at $24/month--and the service and benefits have been exceptional,and she has access to UHC's national network which is very broad. When she turns 65 we'll have the door open to move back to traditional Medicare and supplement, one of the few cases one can go back to Medicare after opting for an Advantage plan. In the meantime...we'll use this as an opportunity to experiment in the Part C world, and my prejudices against Advantage plans will soften.

All that said--wisely choose what fits best for you and your own situation.

[Jim Becker]

The callers are often from just down the street, in another county or state, they aren't just located in foreign countries.

There is no possible way for you to know where the calls are coming from. You cannot trust the caller ID as that can be spoofed (faked) easily. CID verification by carriers is just not "there" at the present time, so if you do answer a call, regardless of the CID, take great care if someone is selling, collecting or otherwise being annoying.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

There is no possible way for you to know where the calls are coming from. You cannot trust the caller ID as that can be spoofed (faked) easily. CID verification by carriers is just not "there" at the present time, so if you do answer a call, regardless of the CID, take great care if someone is selling, collecting or otherwise being annoying.

I realize numbers can be "spoofed" I believe to be the correct term? But the number shown can indicate it's in another part of my state or another state etc. Regardless, as someone said earlier, if I don't recognize the number, I don't answer the phone. Even if I recognize the number or caller, I never give out personal information over the phone. Period. Plus, when you consider I am deaf and my hearing on the phone really, really suffers (too many variables, your phone, my phone, landlines, etc.), I don't do stuff on the phone.

My concern is my mind in the future as I age. Will I be able to recognize a scam for and as a scam?

[Brian Runau]

When you make statements like this it appears to be based on what you have heard and not what you have experienced. Benefit availability is dictated by where you live and what providers are available in your network. An Advantage plan may or may not be the best fit for an individual. It's easy to look on the Medicare site (account required) and compare plans. Your home zip code is required because coverage availability is controlled by your state and location therein. The other thing that is a certainty is your supplement will increase in cost probably yearly.

Ronald, not looking to get in an argument here. I think it is fair to say the extra benefits, drugs included, low monthly cost, low co pays, have to come from somewhere within the plan. I did not get in the weeds when I compared to go on medicare. I wanted national coverage and a broader formulary. Wife and I are blessed we can afford a plan G & D and feel this protects us from major expenses going forward, but does come at a larger monthly cost. For us knowing the monthly cost with consistency was a benefit vs have a major unforseen expense at some point in the future. Some advantage plans don't offer nationwide coverage, so what does a person do when they travel, you would have to look at the formulary to see what tier 1 drugs are covered vs just generics etc... What major procedures are covered and to what degree. Just my opinion, and from speaking with others I know formed the basis of my opinion. Brian

[Brian Runau]

Some Advantage plans are probably very misleading, but there are good ones. When my wife became Medicare eligible due to disability last November at age 60, our choices were Supplement A (at a crazy premium) or one of the available Advantage plans. We opted for UHC's Advantage at $24/month--and the service and benefits have been exceptional,and she has access to UHC's national network which is very broad. When she turns 65 we'll have the door open to move back to traditional Medicare and supplement, one of the few cases one can go back to Medicare after opting for an Advantage plan. In the meantime...we'll use this as an opportunity to experiment in the Part C world, and my prejudices against Advantage plans will soften.

All that said--wisely choose what fits best for you and your own situation.

Earl, I retired a year before I planned to in 2019, and was planning on going on my wife's insurance for a year. 2 months later they sold her company and everyone in the local office was let go. Cobra started out at $650/month and we could afford that. December they jacked it up to age based pricing and it went to $2200/month and this was legal. They were forcing people off of Cobra and then lowered it back down. We went on healthcare.gov for coverage. We were very concerned about care. My wife was within 5 years of breast cancer treatment and couldn't get coverage on the open market so this was are only option. We were afraid of the level of coverage and quality of coverage, and it was a little tedious to do, but worked out well to get us to medicare age and thankful to have had it. Thanks. Brian

[Alan Lightstone]

Some Advantage plans are probably very misleading, but there are good ones. When my wife became Medicare eligible due to disability last November at age 60, our choices were Supplement A (at a crazy premium) or one of the available Advantage plans. We opted for UHC's Advantage at $24/month--and the service and benefits have been exceptional, and she has access to UHC's national network which is very broad. When she turns 65 we'll have the door open to move back to traditional Medicare and supplement, one of the few cases one can go back to Medicare after opting for an Advantage plan. In the meantime...we'll use this as an opportunity to experiment in the Part C world, and my prejudices against Advantage plans will soften.

All that said--wisely choose what fits best for you and your own situation.
No question it can get complicated. I believe, and I may be wrong about this, so be careful - Once you reach 65, if you choose an Advantage plan and later decide to go off it onto regular Medicare Parts A and B, you can no longer get a supplement plan to pay the remaining 20%. You become ineligible. You can get a Part D for prescription meds, but not a supplement plan. That was the case for my wife. So for her, the Medicare Advantage plan that first year became a long-term mistake.

Oh, and I use a call screening app I pay for that eliminates many of those calls, but some still ring that I have to ignore. You can then report these calls to that service. Hopefully they then block those calls.

I always look at the caller ID. I've gotten a call that said Mexico this week, and one that said China. Yeah, right. Good luck answering those. Years ago, I used to answer those calls and sound real interested for a few minutes. Then I would say, "Oh, hang on. Someone's at the door." Then I would put them on hold and never come back. It was sometimes amazing how long they would sometimes stay on hold. So I was wasting their time. One guy actually called back, and I did the same thing again a few minutes later. Amazing. But I stopped doing that a while ago. Worried that I would get on a list to prompt more calls.

[Bruce Wrenn]

We NEVER answer our land line! Let the answering machine screen our calls. As for Medicare Advantage plans, investigate UHC thru AARP. Wife has it, pays no premiums, no out of pocket for primary care visits, and $30 for specialists. Mine is thru Humana as part of retirement (government) benefits. My costs are for visits are higher than hers.

[Dave Fritz]

Many years ago I volunteered at the local Aging and Disability Agency helping seniors with their Medicare part D plans. So vulnerable, my plea, if you have an older family member don't be afraid to ask them how they're coming with their paperwork and financials. I waited too long to help my mother. My wife finally said, "She wants your help". I didn't want to appear to be butting in. She'd get a call from a sales person and she'd say, "Call my son, I can't even write a check, he does it." (not true) When I next spoke to her she'd ask, " Did someone call you selling insurance." Of course the answer was no. We have a daughter and son in law that know everything about our finances and will give us feedback our certain things. Interestingly, they sometimes ask us for our thoughts on something they're considering.

[Brian Elfert]

Many years ago I volunteered at the local Aging and Disability Agency helping seniors with their Medicare part D plans. So vulnerable, my plea, if you have an older family member don't be afraid to ask them how they're coming with their paperwork and financials. I waited too long to help my mother. My wife finally said, "She wants your help". I didn't want to appear to be butting in. She'd get a call from a sales person and she'd say, "Call my son, I can't even write a check, he does it." (not true) When I next spoke to her she'd ask, " Did someone call you selling insurance." Of course the answer was no. We have a daughter and son in law that know everything about our finances and will give us feedback our certain things. Interestingly, they sometimes ask us for our thoughts on something they're considering.

My parents are both still alive and getting close to 80. My father worked in IT his entire life and is very technically adept and manages their finances online. My mother struggles to use a computer, and can barely answer a call on the smartphone my father gave her. (No idea why not another flip phone.) My father has a number of chronic health issues and I would think he will die before my mother. I have asked my mother if she knows how to access all of their numerous bank and investment accounts, and she claims she does. I have my doubts on that unless my father has set something up for her. I think she will be very vulnerable to scams if my father dies before her. I am going to tell her in no uncertain terms never to give any information, or money, to a caller, a website, or an email without contacting myself, or one of my brothers.

[Bill Howatt]

This depends on the person's knowledge and ability, but there is no need for her to be able to access the accounts online. She should have a good record of each and every account such as location, number, etc. If your father passes, she can go to the physical bank and do transactions there as far as regular accounts go. For investment accounts and she is not able or willing to do it, then she needs a financial service (or you) to take care of them. The investment institution itself, may not be online only but it could be.
If you aren't taking over, the advisor can then take whatever steps to transfer, if necessary, the investment holdings to the new institution.
Accounts should be setup as joint to make all of this easier but there can be reasons why not. She can also make the accounts joint with you if you are going to manage things after your father's passing.

[Ronald Blue]

We NEVER answer our land line! Let the answering machine screen our calls. As for Medicare Advantage plans, investigate UHC thru AARP. Wife has it, pays no premiums, no out of pocket for primary care visits, and $30 for specialists. Mine is thru Humana as part of retirement (government) benefits. My costs are for visits are higher than hers.

Ours is through Wellcare and the same. No premium, no charge for primary care physician, $30 specialist, plus a credit card to use for some of the out of pocket expenses that are incurred. It basically works identical to regular health insurance. Prescriptions are no cost for the majority and low cost for the ones that aren't.

[jack duren]

My daughter takes insurance claims at the hospital in Alabama. She said she wouldn’t get caught without a secondary insurance..

I’ve got Medicare and Humana. Plus my wife’s.I found out today chasing down a no pay , that all insurances first go to the payed insurance and not Medicare..

[Ron Selzer]

FYI ALWAYS check every drug cost before making a decision about which plan. I seriously thought about going on Medicare part b, d or g. a week ago.
Ozempic 1mg is currently 927.37 a month on work healthcare plan, thru Medicare depending on which drug plan 1580 to 1600+
myrbetriq er 25mg tab 441.01 a month on work healthcare plan, thru Medicare depending on which drug plan approx. 600+
Same drug stores, local was cheaper than Walmart, Kroger, Meijer
I did not run my wife's meds for pricing
Hospital bill for 6 days, er and operation was 90,000 in January, not certain how much Medicare would have paid. Out of pocket 4,140 total for the year, all drugs, doctors', hospital, etc. thru work plan.
I will be out less for the year, paying 1 month medical insurance out of pocket due to no more paid time off and then going back to work. hopefully 2-14-24, than switching to Medicare now.
Plan on working min of 2 more years and max of 7yrs.
Ron

[Jim Becker]

I realize numbers can be "spoofed" I believe to be the correct term? But the number shown can indicate it's in another part of my state or another state etc.
A spoofed number can be a number from anywhere, from your neighborhood to another city somewhere. The number displayed doesn't tell you anything about where the call is actually originating from. That's what I'm warning about. A clever dude or dudette in Pakistan can appear like they are right down the street from you...same AC, same exchange. Or the same AC and exchange as your wireless phone. The industry has not progressed with rolling out CID verification so "trust no number". Sometimes the spoof is actually stupid...the call comes from your own phone. Or that of a loved one, like one of your grandkids. Lots of scams around that one.

[Ronald Blue]

FYI ALWAYS check every drug cost before making a decision about which plan. I seriously thought about going on Medicare part b, d or g. a week ago.
Ozempic 1mg is currently 927.37 a month on work healthcare plan, thru Medicare depending on which drug plan 1580 to 1600+
myrbetriq er 25mg tab 441.01 a month on work healthcare plan, thru Medicare depending on which drug plan approx. 600+
Same drug stores, local was cheaper than Walmart, Kroger, Meijer
I did not run my wife's meds for pricing
Hospital bill for 6 days, er and operation was 90,000 in January, not certain how much Medicare would have paid. Out of pocket 4,140 total for the year, all drugs, doctors', hospital, etc. thru work plan.
I will be out less for the year, paying 1 month medical insurance out of pocket due to no more paid time off and then going back to work. hopefully 2-14-24, than switching to Medicare now.
Plan on working min of 2 more years and max of 7yrs.
Ron

I looked Ozempic 1mg on my plan. 3 month supply by mail order is $84.

[Pat Germain]

We NEVER answer our land line!

People still have land lines?

Seriously, I know some people, especially in rural areas, need a land line. I cut my land line years ago. I was literally paying to be harrassed by scammers and robocalls. The whole "Do Not Call List" concept is completely useless. Even if I didn't answer the phone, it rang almost constantly. So if I disable the ringer, why do I even have a land line? Answering machine? Can you still buy an answering machine?

[Alan Rutherford]

People still have land lines?....

10 miles from the capital building of the 3rd largest state in the country and cell reception is so bad here we often need to go outside to make a cell call. Cell is getting better and landline getting worse and we'll change one day but not yet.

As for answering the phone: if it rings I answer it. The caller has about one second to make it sound like a call I want to participate in. If they ask for one of us by name I come back with "Who's calling?" If they ask a question I don't say "Yes" to anything.

[Ron Selzer]

I looked Ozempic 1mg on my plan. 3 month supply by mail order is $84.


Checked and found Wellcare listed , they are rated at 3 1/2 stars HERE, so did not look at them earlier.
Ozempic is $1,338.95 for March thru end of 2024 , Definitly cheaper, don't like the 2 1/2 star rating.
Ron

My Doctor is not in/on Wellcare plan

[Jim Koepke]

Sometimes the spoof is actually stupid...

Like having a city & state listed as the caller with an area code that doesn't match.


Can you still buy an answering machine?

Not sure what is on the market now, but the last time we bought cordless phones the base station comes with a digital answering machine. One problem is when the power goes out. Sometimes when the power is out here we will go into town for dinner or a movie (depending on time of day). We can often get someone to call our home number after explaining our power was out. If the machine answers, we know the power is back.

jtk

[Curt Harms]

People still have land lines?

Seriously, I know some people, especially in rural areas, need a land line. I cut my land line years ago. I was literally paying to be harrassed by scammers and robocalls. The whole "Do Not Call List" concept is completely useless. Even if I didn't answer the phone, it rang almost constantly. So if I disable the ringer, why do I even have a land line? Answering machine? Can you still buy an answering machine?

You sure can, and I never turn mine off. I don't have a traditional "land line", I have Ooma,a VOIP service. It costs around $100/year. I could possibly do better but I'm happy with what I have. I often use a land line for outgoing calls, I find the voice quality better and it doesn't run the cell phone battery down. Most inbound calls never get through the greeting, they hang up half way through usually. My cell is a Pixel and has a Google screening function for suspected scams. I'm seldom bothered by scammers, touch wood.

[glenn bradley]

I pray that my wife and I don't get to the point where we are susceptible to those scammers.

I doubt you will. The advice is the same as we have been giving the public at large since before Ethernet made it out of the test lab . . . Don't connect to, accept, or open anything you aren't expecting. This includes phone calls, snail mail, email, and instant messages. Don't click the links in anything you were dumb enough to open. Don't write your passwords on a Post-It and stick it under the keyboard. Don't give anyone your personal info unless you are setting across the desk from them or are absolutely, without doubt, positive as to who they are, what they will do with your info, and how long they will have permission to do so. Essentially common sense. Some of us shouldn't juggle chain saws, some of us shouldn't be licensed to operate a motor vehicle, and some of us shouldn't use computing devices :)

[Patty Hann]

People still have land lines?.... Answering machine? Can you still buy an answering machine?
Yes, yes, and yes ;)

[Mark Hennebury]

Let me send you a fax


Yes, yes, and yes ;)

[Thomas McCurnin]

From September to about November, I got bombarded by guys with Indian sounding accents with names like "Mike" from US Healthcare, and I don't believe there is such a company. I figured out this was a scam pretty early, and whatever you do, don't give them personal information such as your exact date of birth. If you decide to change insurance or Medicare, do it locally with a licensed agent. I found that Medicare Advantage was not for me, but someone else might like it.

I still get the calls daily again from "Mike" and such wanting my DOB. I actually have fun with them. I ask their company name and address, which is usually Tampa (of course they are calling from India or Pakistan), but they cannot tell me the street address and give me a fake phone number. I generally try to keep them on the line as long as possible until they figure out I am wasting their time. 30 minutes is my record. The guy didn't know his address and I asked him how he found his way to work everyday. Great fun.

[Patty Hann]

Let me send you a fax

My Fax doesn't work right now... the strings from the OJ cans got all tangled up in it.

[Tom M King]

I have my phone set to only ring if the number is in my Contacts.

[Tom M King]

In Settings, under phone, Silence unknown calls. turn on button

[Ronald Blue]

Checked and found Wellcare listed , they are rated at 3 1/2 stars HERE, sodid not look at them earlier.
Ozempic is $1,338.95 for March thru end of 2024 , Definitly cheaper, don't like the 2 1/2 star rating.
Ron

My Doctor is not in/on Wellcare plan

One thing to check if it applies. I go to a medical complex with probably 100 Dr's, nurse practitioners, and all support staff and equipment. I was looking and didn't find my dermatologist in the Wellcare directory. My primary care is listed. When I inquired they told me that the medical group was contracted with Wellcare and as a result all service providers were also approved/accepted by Wellcare. So even if I didn't find the specific provider in the search they were still in the network. This did turn out to be true. So something to consider unless your provider is independent with no care group affiliations.

[Ron Selzer]

One thing to check if it applies. I go to a medical complex with probably 100 Dr's, nurse practitioners, and all support staff and equipment. I was looking and didn't find my dermatologist in the Wellcare directory. My primary care is listed. When I inquired they told me that the medical group was contracted with Wellcare and as a result all service providers were also approved/accepted by Wellcare. So even if I didn't find the specific provider in the search they were still in the network. This did turn out to be true. So something to consider unless your provider is independent with no care group affiliations.

Thanks my foot doc is stand alone.
I am starting to try to figure all this out now. Hope not to retire for 2-7yrs, however if my right foot gets removed sometime (not if but when), I probably will retire due to how much driving I have to do.
Ron