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Washington, DC—Since legitimate marketing for the
federal program began last week, consumers across the nation are
becoming aware that, starting in January 2006, Medicare will
begin to offer coverage for prescription drugs. As prescription
drug plans, consumer and health advocates, industry, and the
government begin to send information about the new drug benefit
out to the public, people in Medicare will need to know how to
tell if they are dealing with a reliable resource.
The National Consumers League (NCL) warns
that con artists are already taking advantage of the fact that
consumers will have various choices of Medicare drug plans by
trying to offer phony Medicare drug plans. Their real objective
is to steal consumers’ money, personal information, or both.
Medicare beneficiaries considering enrolling in a prescription
drug plan, warns the advocacy group, need to be on the lookout
for telltale signs that an offer may be fraudulent.
“Choice can be a very good thing, but
crooks are always looking to take advantage of opportunities and
might pretend to be from the government or legitimate companies
to trick people into handing over their money or personal
information,” said Susan Grant, National Consumers League Vice
President and Director of the National Fraud Information Center.
“But there are ways to determine if you’re looking at a real
deal; to start with we always advise people to be extremely
careful about giving out their Social Security and bank account
numbers.”
The
Washington-based nonprofit organization has released new advice
for Medicare beneficiaries at
www.fraud.org that will help them avoid falling victim to a
Medicare drug plan scam. Sample tips from the site include:
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Check the list of Medicare-approved prescription drug
plans. If a plan is not on the list, it’s a scam.
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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.
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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.
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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 if you
do join a plan, they can 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.
For additional
warning signs and to find out how you can learn more about the
Medicare drug plan, look for the National Consumers League’s new
tips at
www.fraud.org. For more information, write or call the
National Consumers League at 1701 K Street, N.W., Suite 1200,
Washington, D.C. 20006, 202-835-3323. |
