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Here’s what you need to know to take advantage of the
Medicare discount drug card program and protect yourself from fraud.
- Check the list of Medicare-approved prescription drug plans.
The list of approved plans and other information about the
program are available at
www.medicare.gov and by calling toll-free, 1-800-633-4227 (TTY
users should call 1-877-486-2048.) Medicare prescription drug plans,
which will be offered by private companies and organizations, must
meet specific federal standards and be approved by the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services in the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS).
- If someone says you must join or you’ll lose your other
Medicare benefits, it’s a scam. The Medicare prescription drug
benefit is voluntary. It supplements your other Medicare benefits.
- If someone asks for payment before November 15, 2005, it’s a
scam. The plans are allowed to begin advertising on October 1,
2005, but they’re not allowed to begin enrolling people and asking
for payments until November 15, 2005, which is the beginning of the
six-month open enrollment period.
- Guard your personal information from identity thieves posing
as sales people. Legitimate plans may ask for your Social
Security number, but only when you are actually enrolling.
And they may only ask for your credit card or bank account
information if you are arranging to make automatic payments for your
drug coverage from that account.
- If someone claims to be calling from the Social Security
Administration (SSA) and asks for your bank account, credit card, or
life insurance policy numbers, it’s a scam. SSA will never ask
for that information, and the only time someone calling from the SSA
will ask for your Social Security number is if you applied for
low-income assistance and the number you put on your application
wasn’t correct.
- Know the law on how Medicare prescription drug plans can be
marketed. It’s illegal for companies or organizations marketing
Medicare drug plans to come to your door uninvited or to send you
unsolicited emails. Companies and organizations can call to promote
their drug plans, but it’s illegal for them to sign people up during
those calls. They must also obey telemarketing laws: it’s illegal to
call before 8 am or after 9 pm; call people whose telephone numbers
are on a state or the federal "do not call" registry (with some
exceptions); or call people who have asked not to be called again.
For more information about your telemarketing rights and to put your
phone number on the federal "do not call" registry, go to
www.donotcall.gov or call
1-888-382-1222.
- Medicare prescription drug plans should come with no strings
attached. Companies and organizations can offer modest prizes or
gifts (but not cash) to promote their Medicare prescription drug
plans – for instance, to people who attend a sales presentation –
but it’s illegal to require anyone to join a drug plan in order to
get a prize or gift.
- Don’t be fooled by sales materials that look like they’re
from the government. Con artists often try to impress consumers
with official-looking sales materials that look like they’re from a
government agency. Since it is private companies who are offering
the plans, be skeptical about promotional materials claiming to come
from the government.
- Don’t confuse other types of drug coverage with Medicare
prescription drug plans. Only plans approved by Medicare can be
marketed as Medicare prescription drug plans. Approved plans will
have a seal on their materials with "Medicare Rx" in large letters
and "Prescription Drug Coverage" in smaller letters under that.
Check with Medicare to make sure that the plan you’re considering is
approved.
- Report suspected Medicare drug plan scams. Call the
Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human
Services, 1-800-447-8477, TTY 1-800-337-4950 (information about the
Medicare drug plans is not available at these numbers). You can also
report Medicare-related fraud by sending an email to
HHSTips@oig.hhs.gov or writing
to Inspector General, HHS, Attention: Hotline, 330 Independence
Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201.
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