Medicare Fraud Public Service Announcements

Below is a 30 sec public service announcement about avoiding new Medicare card scams. For some background, new Medicare cards will start being mailed to beneficiaries in April 2018. The cards will have new identification numbers not linked to Social Security numbers as a way to help prevent fraud and protect people from ID theft.

Yet, as with any new change, scammers like to take advantage of possible confusion. Beware of scammers asking to verify your Medicare number and/or asking for money to mail your new card. Medicare will never call asking for your number; they already have it and the new cards are sent free of charge.

Please report any suspicious scams to our Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) at 1-855-613-7080.

Below are two 30-sec and one 60-sec public service announcements that warns of a common Medicare back brace scam and the importance of guarding your Medicare card. It refers people to our California Senior Medicare Patrol for help and to report fraud. (Note: the 2nd 30-sec PSA has subtitles.)

These public services announcements below are a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging’s “Stop Health Care Fraud” National Campaign. The 60, 30 and 15 second PSAs featuring the Senior Medicare Patrol will show you how to protect your Medicare number, detect errors by reviewing Medicare summary statements, and report fraud if you suspect it.