6-19-09
Medicare Fraud Alert (Updated!)
Practitioners need to be aware of a scam targeting Medicare providers. The scam involves a fax or mailing from perpetrators posing as a Medicare carrier or Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) instructing a provider to complete re-enrollment forms within 48 hours or risk payment interruption. The forms contain sensitive information. The notice may have the CMS logo and/or the contractor logo to enhance the appearance of authenticity.
These requests are not coming from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) but from scammers who take the information, reregister the provider with Medicare and then reroute their payments to the scammers’ accounts. Several days later the accounts are closed and the money leaves the country.
CMS advises providers who receive a request for information in the manner described above to check with their contractor before submitting any information.
Medicare providers should only send information to a Medicare contractor using the address found in the download section of the CMS.gov Web site found at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNGenInfo or http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareProviderSupEnroll. Do NOT automatically submit the requested information.
Get more information about Medicare fraud. Read CMS's press release about its efforts to fight fraud. See AOTA resources on fraud and abuse.
