Tips to avoid possible Medicare Part D scams

• No Medicare drug plan can ask a person with Medicare for bank account or other personal information over the telephone. No beneficiary should ever provide that kind of information to a caller. No one can ask you for personal information during their marketing activities. No one should ask for any personal information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, income or resource information. Always keep all personal information, such as your Medicare number, safe, just as you would a credit card or a bank account number.
  
  
• Telemarketing: Private companies can call you about their plan (unless you're registered with the National Do Not Call Registry), but they can't enroll you over the telephone unless you call them. To opt out of phone solicitation, visit www.donotcall.gov or call 888-382-1222 .
  
  
• Ask the caller for their name, title, the company they represent, and their phone number. Then call Medicare or your SHIP and check out their credentials before discussing any matter with them.
  
  
• Beware of door-to-door salesmen. Agents cannot solicit business at your home. No one is allowed to come into your home uninvited.
  
  
• Legitimate Medicare drug plans will not ask for payment over the telephone or the Internet. They must bill the beneficiary for the monthly premium.
  
  
• Typically the payment amount is set up as an automatic withdrawal from the beneficiary's monthly Social Security check. Beneficiaries may also opt to pay the monthly premiums in other ways such as writing a check or setting up automatic payments from their checking accounts.
  
  
• Part D plans from private companies will have a "Medicare-Approved" seal on their materials. If they don't have it, they're not legitimate.
  
  
• Voluntary: Remember that Part D is voluntary. You don't have to sign up. If you choose not to sign up, you won't lose your other benefits from Medicare (Parts A and B). If anyone tries to tell you otherwise, they're wrong.
  
  
• Whenever you have a question or concern about any activity regarding Medicare, call 1-800-MEDICARE .