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.

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[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.