Dialing In Medicare 2026
As a Medicare broker, I chose this topic because things are happening, and seniors need to understand it so they can help themselves avoid fraud and all the problems that ensue.
Specifically, I am referring to telephone calls to seniors claiming to be from the Medicare Center, a Medicare Counseling service or some other entity. The call is a robot call where someone asks you if you have Medicare Parts A & B, and then they refer to an insurance agent who then gets on the line.
They tell you that there are new Medicare programs that pay you cash for groceries, or over-the-counter medications, or anything else to get your attention. (Let me clarify that you can get money for groceries if you have a Special Needs Plan or dual eligible (Medicare and Medicaid) but not if you are on Medicare with another MAPD or Medicare Supplement plan.
The idea is to sell you a new plan regardless of whether your doctors or medications are covered by it.
This is considered Medicare fraud, but many seniors fall into this trap and end up changing plans without even realizing it. Then they must contact CMS and file a complaint against whomever called them and get CMS to change you back to your original plan. When CMS does that, you lose your broker and are considered a house account. (Meaning no one gets paid to service you do you have to call the client service line to be taken care of.)
Please understand that insurance brokers or agents ae not allowed to call you soliciting business. It’s against the law. We are allowed to call our clients but not use the telephone to prospect with seniors.
Medicare fraud is rampant in our country because seniors are taken advantage of, as some seniors are not aging well and have some mental issues, as well as physical ones. Sad but true.
I am writing this blog post to inform seniors about what is happening and how they can avoid it. I get over 15 calls a day from these folks trying to sell me a new plan. I even wrote to the head of CMS, but have not heard back yet. This is real and dangerous for our seniors.
My suggestion is that when you get these calls, simply hang up. It’s annoying, but a fact of life today. Save yourself the grief of trying to change back to your
original plan and simply don’t listen to the caller. It’s considered Medicare fraud, so beware.
Hope that you all understand what is happening and are being warned, so take heed and protect yourself by not listening to these callers. They do not have your best interest at heart. They are only interested in the commission from the sale.
Also, you may want to take a look at Medicare 2025 Information. 2026 Medicare Information coming soon.
The Barend Agency Inc. Len Barend, broker 702-250-2200
