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**Senior**

**Medicare**

**Patrol**

**Alert**

> **IF IT SEEMS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE \...**
>
> **Enticing promises of** A**free**@ **wheelchairs or scooters**
>
> **may be Medicare fraud that will cost you plenty**
>
> **Q. When is a** A**good deal**@ **on a wheelchair or scooter not a
> good deal?**
>
> **A. When it**=**s a Medicare fraud that leaves you stuck in a chair
> that**=**s not medically needed, possibly paying a big deductible and
> fattening the wallets of dealers making record profits from
> hard-earned tax dollars.**
>
> **The numbers tell a story**
>
> **Medicare payments for power wheelchairs and scooters came to \$299
> million in 1999. By 2003, that total mushroomed to over \$1 billion.
> That is, sales more than tripled in four years. Some of this large
> increase means new hope for people previously unable to get around.
> Some is clearly fraud.**
>
> **Ways the Con Works**
>
> **\* Some dealers offer a** A**free**@ **wheelchair or scooter to get
> a patient**=**s Medicare number. Once the crooks get your number it
> can appear on fraudulent bills from across the country.**
>
> **\* Some dealers pay doctors to say chairs are medically needed (when
> they**=**re not), transfer patients to far-off doctors offices or
> forge the needed medical forms.**
>
> **\* Some dealers charge Medicare for an expensive chair then deliver
> a cheaper one**
>
> **(or sometimes none at all).**
>
> **Medically needed?**
>
> **Of course, the technology of today**=**s power wheelchairs and
> scooters can dramatically change the lives of people who otherwise
> would be confined to a bed or chair. And everyone on Medicare who
> really needs this medical equipment should get it.**
>
> **But much of the growth in Medicare costs for these items has been a
> fraud. Not only can these scams rob patients of vital exercise and
> cost taxpayers millions of dollars, they also ensnare unsuspecting
> seniors in a web of deceit and crime.**
>
> **What is the government doing?**
>
> **The federal government is taking action. The Office of Inspector
> General is conducting investigations around the country and crooked
> dealers are being fined and going to jail. The Centers for Medicare
> and Medicaid Services is changing rules to keep some questionable
> dealers out of Medicare and is improving the medical approval
> process.**
>
> **What can you do?**
>
> **The best defense against this and other Medicare fraud, though, is
> an alert public. So how can you protect yourself?**

-   **First and foremost, always rely on your personal doctor to
    recommend all medical services and equipment for you.**

-   **Beware of pressure or scare tactics to sell you medical equipment
    or supplies.**

-   **Never give your Medicare or Medicaid number to strangers even for
    a** A**free**@ **service or benefit. They do not need your number if
    the service is truly free.**

-   **Never allow anyone to have you contact your doctor requesting a
    service or product you do not need.**

-   **Beware of unsolicited sales pitches and offers of any kind be they
    from a live salesperson, the phone, TV, radio, the internet or
    anywhere else.**

-   **Never allow anyone to see your medical or prescription records
    without your doctor**=**s or pharmacist**=**s approval.**

-   **Never believe anyone who says they are from Medicare or any
    federal agency trying to sell you something. Neither the government
    nor Medicare endorses products or services for anyone.**

-   **If you have called your health care provider or Medicare
    insurance**

> **contact and continue to have questions see below:**
>
> **call your State Senior Medicare Patrol contact listed at**
>
> http://www.aoa.gov/smp/grantee/grantee_state.asp