A van advertising changes to Medicare created by the Inflation Reduction Act sits outside the Heinz-Menaker Senior Center in Harrisburg. (Credit: Commonwealth Media Services)
Toward the end of November, scammers try to leverage a Medicare deadline to pressure older people and caregivers into disclosing sensitive information like Social Security numbers.
This story first appeared in How We Care, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring original reporting and perspectives on how we care for one another at all stages of life. Sign up for free here.
As Medicare’s Dec. 7 enrollment deadline approaches, older adults and caregivers should be on the lookout for scammers.
Hoping to con people into disclosing Social Security numbers or other sensitive information, fraudsters pose as Medicare officials or insurance company employees in phone calls and text messages.
This trickery adds to the already stressful experience of deciding on insurance coverage, but there are ways older adults and caregivers can avoid being duped and potentially losing money or their identities.
Ryan Ramsey with the National Council on Aging, a nonprofit that advocates for the well-being of older adults, said that it’s first good to know that toward the end of November, criminals are particularly active as they seek to leverage the approaching deadline to pressure people into making mistakes.
In the following conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, Ramsey explains how older adults and caregivers can protect themselves during this period and how to handle suspicious interactions. In general, Medicare insurance will not communicate with you over the phone.
How We Care: The federal Medicare program will never call you unexpectedly. But a lot of people have Medicare Advantage plans or supplementary prescription drug insurance — which people might know as Medicare Part D — and this coverage is sold by private insurance companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield, or Aetna. Will these companies ever contact you over the phone about your Medicare?
Ryan Ramsey: An insurance company is not going to contact you over the phone in the overwhelming amount of situations. Instead, you should be expecting letters. There could be rare instances where your Medicare Advantage plan may call, but they will not require you to answer questions over the phone.
The only time where, in my experience, I have heard about an insurance company directly calling somebody is when multiple duplicative charges have been cast onto an account, and the plan is trying to confirm whether the patient got a particular service.
If you get on the phone and immediately somebody is asking for your personal information, do not give that information out. When in doubt, hang up or say nothing. You can always call them back directly through their toll-free line to ensure that you're not being reached out to by a scammer.
Also, be very cautious if you receive a robot call or a teleprompting call where there's some sort of computerized voice. In some cases, scammers will record people giving answers — like you saying your date of birth or your Social Security number — and then use those recordings to sign people up for something that they don't want to be committing to.
As we age, we often rely more on our adult children or other people who are close to us to help with things like insurance and banking. What should caregivers know about Medicare scams?
I certainly would want caregivers to know they need to be protecting that person's information. I encourage them to take their time when helping someone select their Medicare coverage, and to get in touch with a reputable person through Medicare, their state’s health insurance assistance programs, or go on to medicare.gov. And if your instincts are telling you something's not right here, you should listen to that.
I always advocate that people start selecting Medicare coverage early so you don't have to feel that urgency of, “I'm just starting, and I've only got two weeks left.” When you’re on a deadline you’re much more likely to fall into that trap of feeling pressured, and then fall victim to a scam.
We've mostly talked about phone calls, but scammers can reach out to people in other ways: text messages, emails, the mail. Is there anything particular to these forms of communication that Medicare recipients or caregivers should look for?
The same information applies. There’s a lot of phishing emails and texts that are trying to encourage people to click on a link: “Click this to find out information on Medicare, click this link to save money, or find the best plan in your area.” You don't want to be clicking on links that you don't know where they're leading to.
Also, a lot of people think that scams can only happen to an older adult, and that's just not true. There's so much stigma and embarrassment, but it can happen to anybody.
Along those lines, what should someone do if they’ve made a possible mistake and revealed sensitive information to a scammer?
I certainly would reach out to my state’s Senior Medicare Patrol program. They'll ask you questions about how much information that potential scammer was able to get from you and then direct you to who else should you contact in order to make sure you're taking care of those loose ends.
Sometimes the [Department of Health and Human Service’s] Office of Inspector General will take over and in some cases, catch and criminally punish the scammers.
Can you help How We Care with a future Medicare story? Some hospitals and health systems have decided to stop accepting certain Medicare Advantage plans. If your health system has dropped your Medicare Advantage coverage, or you know someone else who has experienced this, contact reporter Sarah Boden.
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