Fraud Prevention Checklist

This page has no quiz. It is a list to read slowly and then keep. Medicare fraud costs the program a great deal, and new members get targeted first. Knowing the pattern is most of the defense.

The warning signs

The rules behind those signs

• Medicare does not call members out of the blue to ask for a number or a payment.
• Agents must get your permission before they call you about a plan.
• No honest agent offers you anything of value to get your signature.
• Your Medicare number belongs to you alone, like a bank card number.
• Billing for items you never received is the most common scheme, so read your notices.

Why your Medicare number is the target

Your number is the key to billing. A scheme does not need your money. It needs your number and a diagnosis code. Then a supplier bills Medicare for items you never got. That is why a caller presses for the number and hangs up once they have it.

Where to report it

Protect the rest of your paperwork too. Shred old notices before you throw them out. Do not post your card, even part of it, on social media. Tell one family member what you share and with whom, so a second person would notice a change.

Keep your card in a safe place and share the number only with your own doctors and pharmacy. If you work with a licensed agent, confirm who they are before you share anything. Our Medicare overview explains what Medicare itself will and will not do. When a plan claim sounds too good to be true, verify it at medicare.gov or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE.