Protect Yourself and the Government From Medicare Fraud

Medicare fraud is something that we all have to stop. Medicare is funded by the government, which means that the money belongs to the country, and Medicare itself is a medical program meant to help senior citizens and the disabled. Medicare fraud makes us pay for higher costs and taxes, and usually, the services that are given to those who need medical help are also poor in quality.

Medicare fraud makes the government lose hundreds of millions of dollars every year. The problem is, the government has no way of catching all of these criminals. This is where you come in – the patients and the families of the beneficiaries need to be on the lookout to catch these frauds.

There are many ways to do this. One is to check your Medicare Summary Notice, or MSN. This way, you will get to see and make sure that you know all of the items and services on the list, and you can check if you got everything that's on the list.

If you don't know how to read the statement, or you think that you didn't get something that was on the list, call your doctor and have him explain the matter to you. If your suspicions were not alleviated, call the company in charge of paying your Medicare claim and tell them about it.

Of course, the best way to avoid Medicare fraud is buy being a smart buyer. If someone suspicious offers you a Medicare plan, call the Medicare office immediately. Some salesmen will tell you that they are offering you products that Medicare won't pay for, but that they can persuade Medicare to pay for it. This is all false. Also, be careful about giving your Medicare number to other people, because frauds will bill Medicare for something that you did not receive.