The 2021 Medicare open enrollment season is almost here…you wouldn’t think scammers would miss out on a prime opportunity to do what they do best would you? Of course not! This is why we want to remind you to be as vigilant as possible when it comes to who’s calling you, the notices you are receiving in the mail or the emails you are getting.
Beware of Becky from Medicare
More than 60 million Americans on Medicare have reported getting a robocall from a woman named Becky, a supposed patient advocate, offering precautionary genetic cancer screenings through Medicare. The message continues and asks victims to “press 1” to speak to a specialist as, if not, “Medicare may label [victims] as ineligible for coverage.” DON’T FALL FOR THIS TRAP!
Click here to read more about this robocall…
As a reminder and per the rules for Medicare health plans on medicare.gov, legitimate Medicare representatives are NOT allowed to do the following:
- Ask for your personal information over the phone unless it’s needed to verify membership, determine enrollment eligibility, or process an enrollment request.
- NOTE: Examples of “personal information” include Medicare numbers, social security numbers, bank account and routing numbers, and credit card information)
- Show up at your home uninvited or endorse any service or product
- Make calls to you unless you are already a plan member. If you are a member, the agent who helped you join can call you
- Require you to speak to a sales agent to get information about a plan
- Offer incentives (cash or gifts more than $15) to join their plans
- Ask for payment over the phone or online. You will always be sent a bill!
- Tell you that they’re Medicare supplement insurance (Medigap) policies
- Sell you a non-health related product, like an annuity or life insurance policy, during a sales pitch for a Medicare health or drug plan
- Make an appointment to tell you about their plan unless you agree. During the appointment, they can only try to sell you on the products you agreed to hear about
- Talk to you about their plan in areas where you get health care like an exam room, hospital patient room or at the pharmacy counter
- Market their plans or enroll you during an educational event like a health fair or healthcare-related conference
