Health Reform Seeks To Protect Medicare Consumers from Fraud

In order to assure Medicare consumers’ access to new benefits, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is implementing several key fraud prevention measures included in the new health are reform law. In a June 2 webcast, Secretary Sebelius detailed a number of actions HHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have taken to prevent Medicare fraud. HHS and DOJ will continue to collaborate on existing fraud prevention programs, such as the Senior Medicare Patrol program (SMP) and the South Florida fraud hotline, which engages consumers in fraud detection and reporting. New efforts to prevent fraud that are part of the health care reform law include steeper penalties for those who violate Medicare rules and improved oversight. For example, HHS hopes to be able to perform comprehensive data analyses to predict and protect against Medicare fraud.
Webcast panelists stressed a number of precautions that consumers and caregivers can take in order to help protect against fraudulent Medicare practices:

• Be aware: Anyone can be a victim of Medicare fraud
• Consumers should guard their identity closely: Call 1-800-MEDICARE to report suspicious behavior
• Do not give out personal information over the phone or internet: If you do not recognize the organization or person asking for your information, do not give information to them. Always ask questions about who they are and why they need your information. 
• Know that guaranteed Medicare benefits are the same and consumers do not have to do anything in order to continue receiving them.

Watch the webinar on preventing fraud, waste and abuse in Medicare.

Read about new efforts to fight Medicare fraud in health reform.