posted on December 4, 2023
Senior Medicare Patrol
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If you get an unexpected call saying you owe money for medical services, be wary. Reports of phony medical bills and collection departments are on the rise.

Receiving a call for a medical bill you don’t remember and needs to be paid immediately or you’ll be served has red flags written all over it.

The red flags are:

  • Someone calls you out of the blue to say you owe a medical debt and can’t tell
    you to whom you owe this money and/or when you received the services.
  • You search for the phone number online and it’s not registered to an official
    business.
  • They call you and say that it is urgent to pay them over the phone.
  • This is the first time you have heard of the debt and haven’t received previous
    bills or collection letters.
  • You are being threatened with being served if you don’t pay immediately.

To avoid the medical debt scam, watch out for the red flags and don’t give in to scare tactics. If you are unsure or need further information, call the Missouri SMP at 1-888-515-6565.

This project is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as part of a financial assistance award totaling $662,347 with 100 percent funding by ACL/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

Aging Ahead
Aging Ahead supports individuals through the journey of aging.

Comments 30

  6. Carlyn Webber
    • Reply

    I received a suspect call today demanding payment for an unknown bill to which I demanded a mailed itemized bill which I was told was unavailable. I replied that no bill means no payment and hung up. The best way I knew to handle the call at the time. Thanks for the Info.

  8. Norma Deen Juracsik
    • Reply

    So many frauds on phones. Got call yesterday from PCH that I’d won millions. Knew it was frau when they said I’d have to pay a large insurance fee before they’d send me the check.

  23. Clifton Becton
    • Reply

    Good information I speak from past experiences with scams. Thank You!

  30. Ed
    • Reply

    I got a call from a collection agency for a bill from 2 years ago. The woman was relentless in not let me ask questions and unfortunately that got me very riled up and into a shouting match finally ending with me hanging up. She gave specifics like it was for a bloodtest and listed specifcs like CBC scan. She called my cell phone but knew my postal address. I’ll bet scammers can now get phone numbers for cell phones? Every red flag listed above was violated but because she had specifics about me and details of bloodtests I was suckered into a shouting match, but certainly not into payment

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