We’re bringing this to your attention because we know that most RVtravel.com readers are in or heading toward their senior years.
The FBI is warning Medicare recipients about a growing fraud scheme in which scammers enroll people in hospice care who are not terminally ill and do not need hospice services.
In some cases, victims are enrolled without their knowledge, allowing fraudsters to bill Medicare for services never provided.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), some scammers use door-to-door sales tactics and offer free services such as house cleaning, meal delivery, or other benefits in exchange for signing up with a specific hospice provider. Other schemes involve falsified medical diagnoses, pressure tactics, and financial incentives paid to recruiters for enrolling patients.
The consequences can extend beyond fraudulent billing. Improper hospice enrollment may affect a person’s ability to receive certain Medicare-covered treatments and services, creating potential health care complications for victims.
The FBI advises Medicare beneficiaries never to share Medicare or insurance information with anyone other than trusted health care providers.
Consumers should also be skeptical of offers that seem too good to be true and carefully review Medicare Summary Notices and other benefit statements for unfamiliar providers or services.
Anyone who believes they have been enrolled in hospice care without consent or otherwise victimized by the scam should report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
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In Canada, hospice care is a multi-disciplinary case. Social worker, Doctor, Palliative Care Nurse, Psychologist/Psychiatrist make up a 4 or 5 person Care Committe that decides whether or not a person qualifies for hospice care. That committee also decides when a person qualifies and the person has to agree to hospice care.