Medicare Fraud

[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?