Prevent

Everyone can play a role to prevent fraud and abuse in our health care system. We can all take action to safeguard our personal information by following these steps:

• Prevent health care fraud by protecting your medical identification cards and numbers.
• Treat your Medicare card and number like you would a credit card.
• Only share Medicare and other health care identification cards and numbers with trusted sources who need that information to serve you, such as your health care providers.
• This information should never be provided to a stranger who calls, visits, or approaches you in a public setting.
• Medicare already has your Medicare number. They will not call you to ask for it, and they certainly don’t need your bank account number. If you call 1-800-Medicare (1-800-633-4227) for assistance, they will, however, ask for your Medicare number.
• Treat any offer of free services in exchange for your Medicare or health care identification number with caution and suspicion.
• Rely on your doctors for medical advice and prescriptions, not advice or offers of medical services from unknown persons who call, visit, advertise on television, or approach you in public.