Medicare beneficiaries may receive legitimate survey requests
The Missouri Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) often alerts consumers about scammers who pretend to be with Medicare. This month, we want to tell you about a legitimate study being conducted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
CMS is conducting an ongoing study called the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS). CMS contracts with the nonpartisan and objective research organization called NORC at the University of Chicago.
NORC will be contacting beneficiaries in coming weeks on the behalf of CMS. This is an exception to our typical guidance that CMS will not contact Medicare beneficiaries directly.
Here’s what you can do to confirm the validity of the study and the interviewer:
• Visit the website https://mcbs.norc.org/.
• Confirm the letters received match those posted at Medicare.gov.
• Go https://www.norc.org/Pages/default.aspx; then select “engage us” from the menu, and then select “Contacted by NORC?”
Samples of the letters that are mailed to beneficiaries are available in the “Mail you may get from Medicare” section on Medicare.gov. A professional interviewer will contact the selected beneficiaries to schedule and complete the survey by telephone. This is an important distinction from previous efforts when CMS would not contact the beneficiary by telephone.
If you receive a letter and need help making sure it’s legitimate, give us a call at the Missouri SMP. As always, if you suspect you are the victim of Medicare fraud or abuse, call the Missouri Senior Medicare Patrol at (888) 515-6565.
This project was supported, in part, by grant number 90MPPG0040, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Administration for Community Living policy.