Protect Yourself with These Tips from Alight

At Alight Retiree Health Solutions, we want to help you keep your Medicare and personal health information safe. The following tips can help you see signs of a scam, identify fraud, and better protect yourself from becoming a victim.

The cost of Medicare fraud

Medicare fraud and medical identity theft can cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year, according to the report “Protecting Yourself & Medicare from Fraud,” published by the Department of Health & Human Services. Victims of Medicare fraud could lose money, suffer negative health outcomes, increased stress, and other consequences. That’s why the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS, the federal agency that oversees both programs) encourages all Medicare beneficiaries, including retirees enrolled in coverage through Alight, to play an active role in recognizing and reporting fraud.

What Medicare fraud can look like

Medicare fraud is when someone knowingly deceives Medicare to receive payment or service they’re not entitled to. Doctors and other health care providers, as well as Medicare beneficiaries, can be involved in fraud. Common examples include billing Medicare for services you never received, billing Medicare for more expensive services than what you received, billing for unnecessary services, or using another person’s Medicare number to get services.

Phone scams

Use the same caution with Medicare-related calls as you would with any sales call you receive. These tips can help you spot and avoid a potential phone scam:

Identifying information: If you receive an unexpected call, don’t give out or verify personal information like your Medicare ID, Social Security number or other ID numbers. If you make the call, and you’re confident you’re speaking with a legitimate representative, it’s OK to verify information that identifies you. Note: Neither Medicare nor Alight will ever request your ID information when initiating a call to you — unless you’ve authorized them to contact you in advance.
Urgency: If you receive a call from someone demanding an immediate decision, be wary. Most reputable businesses don’t use high-pressure sales tactics — especially in health care.
Payment: Never respond to a caller demanding payment for something you didn’t order.
Freebies: Ignore callers who offer a gift to entice you to buy something. If the item requires a purchase, it’s neither free nor a gift.

How to protect yourself online

Fraudsters often pose as legitimate businesses through emails and text messages. So it’s a good idea to use security measures that protect you.

Beware of unsolicited email: Don't open attachments or links in unsolicited emails, even if it’s from a familiar brand. Requests for personal information, generic greetings or lack of greetings, misspellings and typos, unofficial "from" email addresses, unfamiliar webpages and hyperlinks are common signs of “phishing” — an attack that attempts to steal your money or identity.
Create strong passwords: Someone with access to your personal information can guess your passwords and make fraudulent purchases while posing as you online. Create passwords that are secure, unique and memorable to you. Many websites indicate whether a password is strong or weak. Consider using a password manager to securely store your passwords and create random new ones for you.
Use multi-factor authentication: Many websites, like Alight’s, give you the option to turn on this additional security measure. With multi-factor authentication, the website sends you a unique code and requires you to enter it every time you log in. To set up multi-factor authentication on Alight’s website, log in and go to your Profile, then scroll down to Security/Multi-Factor Authentication.
Use credit card fraud protection: Most credit cards let you opt in to a free service that notifies you whenever your card number is used. This lets you quickly review all purchases, so you can spot and report any possible fraudulent activity.
Update contact information: Keep your contact information up to date with all health care-related websites — including doctors, insurance companies and, of course, Alight. That way we can contact you if we see suspicious activity on your account.

Medicare Dos and Don’ts

Do:

Protect your Medicare ID card as carefully as your driver’s license or credit cards.
Ask your doctor questions about your care and costs. Discuss all treatment options and make sure you understand possible consequences, costs and outcomes.
Keep a record of all your health care appointments and visits, so you can check them for accuracy against Medicare’s records.
Check all prescription drugs received before leaving the pharmacy or immediately after they arrive in the mail. Check dosages, quantities and instructions; be sure you’re receiving the medication prescribed by your doctor.
Carefully review Medicare Summary Notices (or similar summaries provided by Medicare Advantage plans) to be sure all details are correct.
Consider appointing a trusted backup person who is authorized to speak with your doctors and Medicare on your behalf if you can’t do so yourself.

Don't:

Share medical information with anyone other than your doctor or other authorized providers.
Let anyone other than your doctor or other authorized provider recommend health care services.
Ask your doctor to provide a service you don’t need.
Accept delivery of medical devices or supplies not ordered by you or your doctor.

Ways to report suspected Medicare fraud

If you’re enrolled in Original Medicare, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048.
If you’re enrolled in Medicare Advantage or a Medicare prescription drug plan, call the phone number listed on your insurance ID card.
Contact Alight.
Contact Investigations Medicare Drug Integrity Contractor (I-MEDIC) at 1-877-7SAFERX (1-877-772-3379).

Avoiding Medicare Fraud