Stopping Medicare Fraud

Article Source: San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa

Sept 2017 e-newsletter
Stopping Medicare Fraud

Dear friends,My office launched the first of its kind in the United States educational campaign last month in partnership with San Mateo County’s Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program to educate seniors on how to avoid Medicare fraud. Starting early next year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid will stop using Social Security numbers on the cards in favor of unique, randomly assigned numbers and letters. Fraudsters are salivating over the transition, however, as it will give them the opportunity over the next year or more to rip off the identities of millions of seniors. Medicare is the lifeline for nearly 58 million Americans with the number of enrollees expected to climb to 79 million by 2030. It’s a $600 billion a year industry but suffers nearly $60 billion annually in fraud, one of our nation’s greatest shames. HICAP and Senior Medicare Patrol warn that fraudsters are ready to take to the phones to scam seniors. They caution that crooks pretending to be from Medicare or Social Security may phone asking to verify Social Security numbers, birth dates and addresses so that enrollees can get their new cards and not lose benefits or be delayed in receiving services. Don’t fall for it, they warn, because Medicare, Social Security or the Internal Revenue Service will never cold call you. HICAP, a nonprofit, provides free and objective information and counseling about Medicare. The trouble is, HICAP has suffered from a loss of funding and is largely a volunteer-driven organization. In March, the White House administration’s proposed budget nearly wipes out funding for the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, which funds 24 HICAP offices in the state. As HICAP prepares for this transition, it is doing so with extremely limited resources. I am proud to partner with HICAP to spread the word that new Medicare cards are coming and to never, ever give personal information to anyone over the phone. To learn more about HICAP click here.

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Robert Riechel

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Photo Credit: San Bruno CA Patch Archives

Source Credit: Supervisor David Canepa

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