Medicare fraud occurs when someone knowingly deceives Medicare to receive payment when they should not, or to receive higher payment than they should. Committing fraud is illegal and should be reported. Anyone can commit or be involved in fraud, including doctors, other providers, and Medicare beneficiaries.
A provider is committing fraud if they:
- Bill Medicare for services you never received
- Bill Medicare for services that are different from the ones you received (usually more expensive)
- Continue to bill Medicare for rented medical equipment after you have returned it
- Offer or perform services that you do not need in order to charge Medicare for more services
- Tell you that Medicare will pay for something when it will not
- Use another person’s Medicare number or card
To report fraud, contact 1-800-MEDICARE (633-4227), the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) Resource Center (877-808-2468), or the Inspector General’s fraud hotline at 1-800-HHS-TIPS (447-8477). Medicare will not use your name while investigating if you do not want it to.