SMP Fraud Alert - September 22, 2017

Friday, September 22 , 2017

Fraud in the News

The following are current news articles about health care and fraud issues.

Health Care Fraud:

1. " PCCC Aims to Protect Seniors from Health Care Scams " (Putnam County Record)

Consumer Fraud:

2. " How to Protect Your Personal Data From Hackers " (AARP)

3. "The Equifax Data Breach: What to Do" (FTC)

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This project was supported, in part by grant number 90MP0216, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Administration for Community Living policy.

Dear SMP Readers,

In this week's Fraud Alert, a sample image of the new Medicare card design from CMS and the federal government's largest health care fraud take down.

Have a great weekend!

Hot Off the Press: CMS Unveils the Design of the New Medicare Card!

Our last Fraud Alert included information about the new Medicare card that will be mailed beginning April 2018. The above image is a sample of what the new Medicare card will look like. This new design was recently released by CMS, and you can read more about it in the Medicare & You 2018 book (page 2). Notice that it is still red, white, and blue! However, the newly assigned Medicare numbers will now contain eleven characters; it will no longer be a Social Security number.

While your new Medicare number will no longer be your Social Security number (in order to help prevent identity theft), we still encourage you to protect yourself from potential medical fraud by not carrying your Medicare card in your wallet. You can read more information about the new Medicare card on the SMP tip sheet,

New Medicare Cards: What YOU need to know! The tip sheet is now available in a Spanish version, too!

Federal Government Charges Over 400 Individuals in Largest National Sweep

On July 13, the federal government announced the nation's largest single health care fraud sweep in which 41 federal districts across the country brought charges against over 400 individuals accused of falsely billing the government $1.3 billion.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release: "In the Northern District of Illinois, several Chicago-area medical professionals, including two doctors, were charged in cases related to schemes involving bribery and false and fraudulent claims for home health services and identity theft... In total, these schemes resulted in over $3.6 million being paid to the defendants and their companies." To learn more about the nationwide fraud sweep and the cases from the Chicago area, read the DOJ press release.

Fraud Alerts contain information about current scams taking place in Illinois, announcements and updates about programs or services related to health care and/or fraud protection, and links to news articles about health care and fraud topics. Please forward any recommendations or announcements that you would like to be included in a future Fraud Alert to [email protected]