preventing medicare fraud
Medicare is working harder than ever to find and prevent fraud and abuse. We’re working more closely with health care providers and strengthening the way we review Medicare claims for possible billing fraud. You can join Medicare in the fight against fraud. Here are some simple ways that you can help protect yourself and Medicare from fraud.
When you get health care services, record the dates on a calendar and save the receipts and statements you get from providers to check for mistakes. Compare this information with the claims that are processed by Medicare to make sure you or Medicare weren’t billed for services or items you didn’t get. Did you know you can check your Original Medicare claims as soon as they’ve been processed? The sooner you see and report errors, the sooner we can stop fraud. You can check your claims early by doing either of these:
• Visiting MyMedicare.gov.
• Calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) and using the automated phone system. TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048 and ask a customer service representative for this information.
If your health care provider files the claim electronically, it takes about 3 days to show up in Medicare’s system. If your health care provider files the claim on paper, it takes about 5–7 days to show up in Medicare’s system after
Medicare gets the claim. Keep in mind that in some cases, providers may take up to a year to submit a claim to Medicare.
Important: If you’re in a Medicare health or drug plan, you won’t be able to view claims for these plans on MyMedicare.gov. Call your plan for more information about a claim.