Senior Medicare Patrol

1. Keep a record of the health care services you receive. When you get health care services, record the dates, and save the receipts and statements you get from providers to check for mistakes. Contact us to request a free My Health Care Tracker to help you keep track.
2. Review claims on your Medicare Summary Notice (MSN) and/or Explanation of Benefits (EOB) for services or equipment you didn’t receive, double charges, or things your doctor didn’t order. Compare your MSN and EOB with your personal records.
3. Monitor your Medicare account. You don’t have to wait to view your Medicare claims. Simply log into (or create) your Medicare account at Medicare.gov to track your Medicare claims.
4. Treat your Medicare number the same way you would a credit card number. Don’t share your Medicare number or other personal information with anyone who contacts you by phone, email, or approaches you in person, unless you’ve given them permission in advance. Medicare, or someone representing Medicare, will only call and ask for personal information in these situations:
• A Medicare health or drug plan can call you if you’re already a member of the plan. The agent who helped you join can also call you.
• A customer service representative from 1-800-MEDICARE can call you if you’ve call and left a message or a representative said someone would call you back.
• ​If you filed a report of suspected fraud, you may get a call from someone representing Medicare to follow up on your investigation.
5. Do not accept services you don’t need. If a caller or provider is pressuring you into getting tests or other services you feel are unnecessary, turn down care or ask to get a second opinion from another physician.
6. Be skeptical. It does not hurt to be wary if a caller or provider says Medicare will pay for services that do not sound medically necessary. Also be wary of someone calling to offer you free ​​​​services or equipment that sound too good to be true.​​​​

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