Handling Medicare Fraud

Medicare fraud is a loss to everyone except the perpetrators of the fraud. This results in depriving rightful patients of treatment; higher taxes and higher costs. Hundreds of millions of dollars are lost to Medicare fraud each year. If only the end consumer of Medicare was a little more cautious, much of this fraud could be prevented.

Always examine your MSN. We aren’t talking of email here but your Medicare Summary Notice, to make sure that you have recieved everything listed. If in doubt first contact your doctors office, then the company that paid your Medicare claim. If you do not have the MSN and feel fraud has been committed, the hotline number is 1-800-447-8477.

If you are approached by a provider that claims to be endorsed by the government or Medicare, then be very cautious. Never give out your Medicare number to such people. Remember, Medicare will never want to pay more than is absolutely necessary.

Remember to be very careful with providers who claim to do something for free. Giving such people your Medicare number can result in Medicare being billed on your account and you not recieving the benefit

The end consumer is the first line of defence against Medicare fraud and also the most effective. Remember stopping Medicare fraud starts with you.