All area Medicare recipients are encouraged to attend a fraud prevention presentation at Stewart Memorial Community Hospital (SMCH) in Lake City on Wednesday, July 17. The Iowa Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) will be on hand to help educate Iowans on how to avoid becoming a victim of Medicare fraud. “Medicare fraud is not a victimless crime,” says SMP Director, Kris Gross, “we all pay for Medicare fraud in the form of higher health care premiums and co-pays. These schemes can also jeopardize a person’s health care if information about their coverage and benefits is compromised.” Gross says they receive calls every day from Iowans who have been contacted for a “so-called” free genetic test in exchange for their Medicare number. These people don’t stop their scam attempts at just phone calls, they are also showing up at senior health fairs and at senior housing complexes. Gross wants to ensure that all Medicare recipients know that these tests are NOT covered by Medicare and that anyone who is approached should walk away or hang up on any attempts to get your Medicare number. Any suspicious activity should then be reported to the SMP. The July 17 free program will be held from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Stewart Memorial. More information regarding the most current scams can be found through the link included below.
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