Medicare will not phone you asking for information.
The Missouri Senior Medicare Patrol has a message for beneficiaries: Medicare will not call you seeking information or trying to sell you something.
Telemarketers and potential scammers are rampant these days. And older adults who are getting ready to enroll in Medicare or who are already enrolled seem to have targets on their backs, or their phones.
There are strict guidelines that insurance companies who sell Medicare Advantage, Part D, or supplemental plans must follow. These include no cold calls. However, consumers very commonly complain these days about unscrupulous telemarketers who are making cold calls. Some call themselves something that sounds official – like the Medicare center.
Don’t be fooled into giving callers personal information such as bank account information, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, dates of birth or anything else.
Medicare will not call you seeking such information. The agency already has most of that information. If you think there is a chance that the caller is legitimate, then call 1-800-MEDICARE to find out. Chances are good that if you start asking questions, the bogus callers will hang up on you.
The Missouri SMP is here to help you if you think you or a loved one has been the victim of Medicare fraud or abuse. Call us at 1-888-515-6565.