Aging Connection: November 2007 - Ohio Department of Aging

Aging Connection

November 2007

Guidelines Help Protect Consumers from Medicare Fraud

In hopes of preventing or minimizing fraud, officials are educating Medicare recipients about what program sponsors may and may not do to sell them a Medicare Prescription Drug plan. Companies that offer Medicare private health and drug plans must follow certain rules when promoting their products. They may market their plan through direct mail and radio, television and print advertisements. They can even call a consumer's house. However, plans cannot:

Enroll people over the telephone, unless the consumer initiated the call;
Ask for any financial or personal information;
Request payment over the telephone;
Visit people in their homes or nursing home rooms without an invitation;
Provide gifts or prizes worth more than $15 to encourage enrollment;
Disregard the National Do-Not-Call Registry and "do not call again" requests;
Send unsolicited e-mails;
Compare their plan to another plan by name in advertising materials;
Include the term "Medicare Endorsed" or suggest that theirs is a preferred Medicare drug plan; or
Use information that they have obtained from you to market non-health-related products and services without your written consent.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) advise seniors to be alert to individuals who approach them with offers of good deals on Medicare prescription drug coverage:

Be wary of door-to-door salespeople. No one is authorized to come to a consumer's home uninvited, with the purpose of selling Medicare prescription drug coverage.
Do not reveal personal health or financial information. Legitimate companies who sell Medicare prescription drug policies are not authorized to request personal information during marketing activities.
Always protect your Medicare number. Like credit cards and bank accounts, a Medicare number is personal and should not be given to strangers.
Before revealing personal information or signing a contract, confirm that the company is legitimate. Medicare has a list of approved companies so it's easy to confirm that the company and coverage is legitimate before signing up or revealing financial information.

The Ohio Department of Insurance offers an easy-to-read brochure that helps consumers identify and avoid predatory sales practices during Medicare open enrollment. To download it and other information, vist the department's Web site. Call the Ohio Senior Health Insurance Information Program at 1-800-686-1578 for assistance with Medicare open enrollment. If you suspect an agent is using inappropriate marketing or sales practices, call the department's fraud hotline at 1-800-686-1527.

Table of Contents...