The government has launched a national education effort to protect seniors from scams or fraud concerning their Medicare benefits. Spearheaded by senior officials from the Department Health and Human Services, Administration on Aging, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the education effort comes as $250 rebate checks are being mailed to beneficiaries who have entered the Medicare Part D donut hole this year. The national fraud prevention campaign will include radio, television, and print advertising and outreach efforts, beginning with a $1 million national radio buy that will run in June through August. It is during this timeframe that the onetime $250 rebate checks get mailed to eligible seniors, starting on Thursday.
“Since early April, we have learned of seniors across the country who are being asked for personal information to help them get a rebate check,” said CMS Acting Administrator Marilynn Tavenner. “Seniors should be on the look-out for scams where people they don’t know ask them for their personal information in order to get their checks. This is not how the process will work. “Checks will come directly to beneficiaries who qualify for this benefit under the Affordable Care Act. Seniors or family members should contact us at 1-800-MEDICARE to report any of these types of calls or go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov to learn more about efforts to fight scams like these.”
CMS will purchase time in markets with high percentages of Medicare recipients who fall into the donut hole and time on ethnic radio to communicate with groups of seniors who have been particularly targeted by scam artists. Thirty second and sixty second radio spots will be produced in English, Spanish, Korean, and Armenian for the initial radio buy. English language spots will begin running in a small number of markets by the end of this week. The number of markets will steadily increase and the national buy will be completely in place by the end of June.