MMAP Inc. Interim Director Pat MacKinnon describes the Senior Medicare Patrol and the SMP 65 Week that reminds all Medicare beneficiaries to beware of scams and fraud.
Kitty and Brooke give the calendar of events for June.
MMAP Inc. Interim Director Pat MacKinnon describes the Senior Medicare Patrol and the SMP 65 Week that reminds all Medicare beneficiaries to beware of scams and fraud.
Kitty and Brooke give the calendar of events for June.
Welcome to Let's Talk About Aging. This is Kitty Glomski and my cohost Brooke Mainville bringing you the next episode of Let's Talk About Aging. With me today is Pat MacKinnon, who is the interim director of MMAP in Lansing. Good morning, Pat.
Pat MacKinnon:Good morning, Kitty.
Kitty:We have an upcoming special week. You want to tell us about that?
Pat MacKinnon:One of the programs that MMAP is a part of is the Senior Medicare Patrol or SMP, and they will be hosting a special"SMP 65," Week throughout the country, as an opportunity to let folks know about the dangers of Medicare fraud. The Senior Medicare Patrol is all about educating the public about the dangers, what to be aware of, the costs, and how to recognize and report Medicare fraud. So in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Senior Medicare Patrol, they will be hosting a special fraud alert week.
Kitty:That's on the internet, right?
Pat MacKinnon:It'll be on the internet. There'll be social media. There'll be other hosting events. I'm doing something with our regional office at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services out of Chicago with congressional staff letting them know about the Senior Medicare Patrol and the work we do. There'll be a lot of different things going on.
Kitty:That sounds exciting. It seems like there are more and more attempts to defraud seniors, get their personal information, get their money. I saw a statistic that there are over$60 billion that we lose every year to Medicare fraud. Is that correct?
Pat MacKinnon:That is true. That is the estimate that annually$60 billion. That's with a"B" yes,
Kitty:An amazing number! We really need to tell people to be careful and it usually starts with a phone call, doesn't it?
Pat MacKinnon:So often yes. It's just a phone call: there's a new Medicare card we want you to know about. All new, it's just like a credit card. It's got a chip in it. It's special platinum level, and we will be sending that to you. Could you please confirm your Medicare number with us and tempting you to give that information. Very popular right now. Another hot scams are the durable medical equipment. They just call, try to get your number and they start sending you stuff. Or, it just shows up on your doorstep. You don't know where it came from. Very prevalent.
Kitty:That means that somebody else has your personal information.
Pat MacKinnon:Somewhere along the line, that information got out and now your Medicare is being billed and that's where those billions of dollars are going.
Kitty:If somebody has a question about whether something is legit, what should they do, Pat?
Pat MacKinnon:They should call the MMAP 1 800-803-7174 and talk with one of our counselors and they can give you information on how to report the incident. Sometimes what we think might be a scam are not legitimate, it could be okay and one of the MMAP counselors can get us a sense of what happened and let you know.
Kitty:So if somebody has a legitimate scam, what's the process that they go through and what happens?
Pat MacKinnon:Folks should review their Medicare summary notice, which comes quarterly, or they can check online at their My Medicare.gov account and review that. If they see something that doesn't look right a service they did not receive they can check with the provider. Maybe there was just a mistake. They can call one of the MMAP counselors and run it by them, and get their input on whether this was a legitimate charge. You can call 1-800-MEDICARE, which is 1-800-633-4227, and talk with one of the customer service reps there. They can look at the account and get a sense of whether or not it was a legitimate claim filed. If it wasn't, they can take steps to get it removed from the billing statement from your Medicare and stop payment to this provider. The quickest step check with your physician's office first to see if you get a bill or you see something that doesn't look right, check with them first, and then you can go to 1-800-MEDICARE and report something there. In extreme cases, Medicare can actually change your Medicare number. That is something that's fairly new. It's something that the beneficiary has to request themselves, but one of the MMAP counselors can help facilitate that conversation.
Kitty:When there are criminals that defraud, are they ever brought to justice?
Pat MacKinnon:It's a very long and involved process. When we get information about a situation that's going on, we share it with the appropriate authorities, they put it into their database, and there have been instances where it's used in an actual prosecution or a civil case. That's one of the things that our counselors will do, get that information to the people who can investigate. It's a very delicate, very thorough investigation, but folks are caught. They are tried and they are sentenced.
Kitty:I had received some information that last year the Federal Trade Commission received over 396,000 complaints of government imposter scams, and about 9% to 10% said they lost money to the scammer and that's$442 million. That's a lot of money, and our older adults are the target. I think that's important to showcase this week, to bring focus to it, and warn everybody that if you're getting somebody calling you over the phone, asking for money or your personal information, it's most likely a scammer. Isn't that correct?
Pat MacKinnon:Medicare will never call and ask for your number; they know your number. Somebody says I'm calling from Medicare, confirm your number just say no, and hang up. I've been involved with the MMAP program and the Senior Medicare Patrol for some time now, and what's really striking me is that it used to be that folks would get calls, and the scammers were just so ingratiating. They were kind and thoughtful and spent time talking to the individual. The beneficiary thought they had found a new best friend and not only had they shared their Medicare number, but their Social Security number, their husband's Social Security number, their children's, their dog's Social Security number. They had shared their whole lives with this individual just because they took the time and sat there and listened and talked and, best friends forever. Now the scammers are being very, almost belligerent. They're using fear tactics to get information. If you don't do this, you're going to lose your insurance. You'd have to do it. Now. You have to tell me now very threatening to people. That has been very, very hard for folks to deal with, especially in these times when folks are more isolated, they're not seeing as many of their friends as they used to see, and somebody's calling them and scaring them. You know, it's scary times.
Kitty:I totally agree. One of the things that identify a s cam caller is that it's needed now. Wouldn't you say so?
Pat MacKinnon:Oh yeah.
Kitty:We want you to respond now, and the fact that they're either asking for personal information, or pay a bill. I'm gonna send the sheriff after you. The fact that it's, a"now response" really solidifies that it's a scam call. From my perspective, the best thing to do is hang up. Hang up the phone.
Pat MacKinnon:They're expecting, older adults or others who have Medicare to be some kind of weak, docile group, and we're not. There may be a little snow on the top here, but, No just saying no bullying. We don't have to take it we're smarter than they are. Who do you think you're talking to?
Kitty:Another venue for the scammers is email. And so anything can be copied into an email, including a logo from Social Security and Medicare and unless you signed up for this kind of thing, you won't get emails either out of the blue.
Pat MacKinnon:That's right. It always strikes me as odd that one of the key signs to fake emails is that there are misspellings or the grammar is just bad. You think they would be more careful. It doesn't look quite professional, as you would see from Medicare. Then there are misspellings and if you hover your mouse over some of the links, they're not quite right. So check those out, and the emails, that's another venue to try and capture you.
Kitty:Pretty much any way they can reach you to get a response. We've covered of the different kinds of scams, and one other way that you can stop scammers from calling is your cell phone. I know these devices are wonderful, but they're also a real venue for scammers to reach you, and there are some call blocking applications that are free and some of them are already on telephones. You might have. talk to your senior center or take your phone back to the office where you got it. If you have a plan, for example, to see if you have a built-in feature to block these kinds of calls. But the big thing is if they're calling to scare, you. Hang up right away to say no, just say no, just say no. And the old adage is that if it sounds too good to be true it probably it probably is. Pat, do you know what day you're going to be participating with the big week of celebrations?
Pat MacKinnon:I've got an event that I'm scheduled for on June 9th, but the whole week, there will be postings and messages and information out there. The week of June six five.
Kitty:That's not lost 65 year olds and older. This is the program for you. From June 5th through June 11th, this is a Medicare Fraud Prevention Week and you can go to the homepage:
Pat MacKinnon:this is the www. S M P(that's Senior Medicare Patrol) resource. org and it can tell you all about the activities and probably webinars and things that you can attend.
Kitty:Should be a good week. Anything else you'd like to add?
Pat MacKinnon:Let's see, protect yourself by not sharing your Medicare number with anybody. Medicare will never call you and ask for your number. Detect Medicare fraud by checking your Medicare summary notices and Explanation of Benefits. If you see something that doesn't look right, you can call one of the MMAP counselors at 1-800-803-717 4 to report it and they can get that information to the folks that are doing the research and the study and the investigations. So protect, detect, and report.
Kitty:The motto of Senior Medicare Patrol. Yes, and we stand by it because it's really important to stop this kind of activity. Medicare is important to all our beneficiaries and to think that there are fraudsters out there that want to take advantage is horrible. A lot of them are not even in the United States. A lot of them are in a foreign country doing this because they can do it cheaply. If one person responds, one person a day, that may be a lot of money. Pat, I want to thank you for joining us. Come back and join us again.
Pat MacKinnon:I'd love to Kitty. Thank you for having me.
Kitty:This is Kitty Glomski and Brooke Mainville with the calendar of events for June. Brooke, I hear you have some events scheduled.
Brooke:I have five different events scheduled for the month of June. First I have a Matter of Balance. It's a in-person fall prevention workshop taking place in Hale in Iosco. It starts June 6th, going through June 29th, from 9:30 to 11:30. Then on June 10th, I have a Caregiver Webinar Series that's virtual. It's Understanding and Responding to Dementia, and that's 1:00 to 2:00. On June 13th, I'm partnering with our host organization NEMCSA, Region 9 and Alcona Health Center are putting on a community COVID event from 4:00 to 6:00 at our Ossineke warehouse 11765 US Highway 23 South, Ossineke. You can come and receive a COVID vaccination, your booster, and at home COVID tests. There's going to be vendor tables and I'm going to be one of the vendors there. It is a great event. We just held one in April and we had 23 participants come out. It's a great place to get resources, information, and actually coincides when NEMCSA gives away some of their food boxes.
Kitty:What are the three organizations again that are sponsoring this?
Brooke:It's Northeast Michigan Community Action Agency, which is our host and then Region 9 as well as Alcona Health Center. Our first Elder Abuse Webinar will be June 15th and that's from 1:00 to 2:00, and our last event is the Healthy Living Webinar for your brain and body. It's June 17th from 1:00 to 2:00, and that's virtual. All these different events that I just went over are free of cost and anyone can register or sign up with these events by contacting me at 989-358-4616.
Kitty:Let's get this straight. Let's just name off the events. You have some series, right? There's more than one class.
Brooke:Yeah. So altogether we have a Matter of Balance, it's fall prevention. We have three different kinds of webinars. We have our Caregiver Webinar, our Elder Abuse webinar, and our Healthy Living webinar. We have an in-person Matter of Balance and then the in-person COVID event taking place in Ossineke.
Kitty:Wow, there's a lot for people to do isn't there?
Brooke:They're all free. So I really hope that we see some faces at these events.
Kitty:Wonderful. And again, your phone number to register is
Brooke:(989) 358-4617.
Kitty:On my side of the table, I have one event for June, which is the New to Medicare Presentation for new Medicare beneficiaries. This is for anyone who is brand new to Medicare, who is disabled and starting Medicare, or for people that may be working and have postponed their Medicare for a bit. So if they're going to be starting Medicare after retirement this is the information that you're going to need to make decisions. The MMAP program that's the Medicare Medicaid Assistance Program will help you know what your options are. The virtual presentation is on June 8th at 10:00. You can call our 800 number, which is 800-803-7174 to register for the event, or you can contact your local Council or Commission on Aging to register. After the presentation, you will get to meet either virtually or in-person with a counselor, so you can discuss your personal situation. This is a great opportunity for anyone who is starting Medicare and needs some help weeding through what to do. This is Kitty Glomski
Brooke:and Brooke Mainville saying thank you for joining us,
Kitty:and asking you to join us next time on Let's Talk About Aging.
Carla:Podcast music provided by Groove Music, selection titled"Modern Logo," created by Vadym Kuznietsov and can be found at https://elements.envato.com/modern-logo-ZVHFBJ6 This Podcast was supported, in part, by grant number 90MPPG0039 from the US Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC 20201.