How To Report Medicare Fraud

If you have noticed suspicious activity on your Medicare Summary Notice or encountered someone who claimed to represent Medicare, then you might need to know how to report Medicare fraud and abuse to the federal government. Medicare fraud costs the government millions of dollars every year, resulting in higher premiums for Medicare recipients and higher overall health care costs for all citizens. When you report Medicare fraud, you're helping not only yourself but also millions of other people, and the integrity of the system itself.

What you will need in order to report Medicare fraud:

• Your Medicare Summary Notice

• Any identifying information regarding the medical provider involved

1. Call your physician first. Sometimes what appears to be Medicare fraud is just a simple mistake. In this case a simple call to your medical care provider or medical supplies provider will be all you need to sort out the problem.

2. Call the Medicare company that paid the claim. If you cannot resolve your suspicions with your medical provider, then contact the Medicare company directly to report Medicare fraud. Their contact information should be on your Medicare Summary Notice.

3. Obtain the Medicare "representative"'s contact information. If you have encountered someone claiming to represent Medicare, they must have some contact information in order to make a profit. You may need to play along with them until you get a reliable means to contact them again. If they refuse to give you any information this is very likely to be a case of Medicare fraud.

4. Contact the Office of Inspector General Hotline. Once you have all of the information with which to report Medicare fraud, you will want to contact the Office of the Inspector General's confidential hotline. You can also write a letter.

 Tips:

• If you are writing a letter to the Office of Inspector General, state clearly at the beginning of your letter that you are writing to report Medicare fraud.

• The Office of Inspector General's policy is to not respond directly to written complaints.