Health care representative scams proliferate in the U.S.
Source: Affordabil Release Time: 04:09:28 2020-10-06
The caller will claim to be a representative of your medical plan (such as Medicare Advantage or Medicare Supplementary Plan). If you join a national insurance company that serves many members, you are at greater risk. why? Phone fraud is a numbers game. Fraudsters will pretend to be representatives of insurance companies and call hundreds or even thousands of people. If they say they are calling from a national company, then they are more likely to have access to the actual registered personnel of that company. Medical discount plans disguised as medical insurance: Sometimes callers will offer medical discount plans that are said to be equivalent to insurance. In fact, most of them are memberships of "clubs" claiming to get preferential prices from certain doctors and pharmacies and certain programs.
"Health Insurance Consultant:" The fraudster will use people's confusion about the state-based health exchange established through the Affordable Care Act to provide help to drive the health insurance market with fees. This assistance is indeed available and legal, but the person who provides this assistance (also known as "navigator") is not allowed to charge for the service. Also, remember that people with Medicare coverage do not need to use the State Health Exchange Center. The target audience is people under 65 who want to participate in a personal health plan.
Ways to avoid medical phone fraud include:
Protect your personal information-including detailed information about Medicare coverage. Protecting your Medicare card number is like protecting your credit card number, and only provide it to healthcare providers when you seek services.
Don't answer calls too quickly. For example, if someone asks you to provide your social insurance number or medical insurance number, you should ask them why they need it, how to use it, and what happens if you refuse to provide it. Remember, your health care plan already includes this information, so they don’t need to call you.
One of the leading Medicare health scams is where fraudsters make false claims for durable medical equipment (such as wheelchairs, scooters, walkers and sprayers). For health care providers, it is illegal to call Medicare patients without asking. Therefore, if you receive a call to buy medical equipment that the doctor has not ordered, please hang up.
