Yet Another Medicare Supplement Scam

There have been reports of scam after scam regarding the sale of Medicare Supplemental Insurance plans across the country during the past few years.  It seems that people are coming out of the woodwork to take advantage of the fact that there have been changes and additions in the supplements, confusion about the differences in the supplements and misunderstandings about what is covered by Medicare Advantage vs. the supplements available.

Most recently there is yet another scam taking place.  It has been quite intense – groups of individuals going door-to-door trying to sell senior citizen “bad insurance” that could create a problem for them with their Medicare coverage.  These door-to-door sales people are talking unwary seniors into replacing their current, legitimate supplemental insurance with policies that offer inferior coverage or no coverage at all, leaving them vulnerable to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.

One of the most frustrating and dishonest things is that these door-to-do scamsters are telling unsuspecting seniors that they are from Medicare and/or the Social Security Administration.  It is bad enough to be out doing what they are doing – ripping out good insurance coverage and ripping off seniors – but to represent themselves as working for the federal government agency that is supposed to protect and help seniors and individuals with disabilities, make things so much worse!

These people are not from either agency.  The fact is that as far as officials know, the names of the main two companies that are actually involved in this situation are Ever Care and Bankers’ Casualty and Life.  When seniors have gone to pharmacies to get their prescriptions they have been told that the new insurance isn’t covering them, even though the old insurance did.  So these seniors now have to take money out of their pocket (if they have it) or go without, even though they have paid premiums for what they thought was legitimate supplemental coverage. 

In addition to Ever Care and Bankers’, two other questionable companies are Medicare Complete and Medicare Horizons.  It is important for seniors to deal with local companies, if possible, and seniors are warned not to let anyone into their homes that they don’t know.  Also, it is important that they do not allow themselves to be coerced into purchasing any products or replacing products that they already have – especially without getting a second opinion, just as they would if they were getting a diagnosis or having surgery.

If you are a senior and have been approached by any of these types of scams, it is important that you report it to your local County Council on Aging.