There was a time when a ringing phone was a reasonably neutral event, and one answered the phone without a sense of trepidation or dread. Today’s telephone answering experience, especially with unknown caller ID numbers and shameless, bold scammers, can be fraught with feelings of uncertainty and risk.
My phone rang today, and the caller pleasantly asked if I had received my new Medicare card so that he could enroll me in a new Medicare plan. As a licensed insurance agent of eleven years’ experience with Medicare insurance plans, I stated what I did for a living and ended the call at once. It did get me thinking, however.
The caller, cordial and polite, could easily have kept an innocent person on the phone with perilous results. If the person said they had a Medicare card in their possession, the caller might ask for the number to verify that the number was correct. If the person thought that perhaps they were to receive a new card, the caller could also ask for their Social Security number to verify the Medicare card number or ask for other information, and we all know how this scenario ends. This clearly is a scam. Beware.
Many of my clients report receiving several calls a day such as I experienced, or from telephone sales banks offering to enroll people in a new plan with benefits that are of interest to Medicare beneficiaries, such as transportation to medical appointments and dental and vision benefits. Medicare prohibits agents or brokers from making unsolicited calls. The only unsolicited contact that can be made is through direct mail or email, provided that there is an “unsubscribe” feature in the email. The goal of the telephone sales bank (tele sales) is to change your current plan to one of the plans they represent to become the enrolling agent and receive a monthly commission. The tele sales bank is interested in servicing a call if someone needs help or has questions about their plan.
Recently, a kind and trusting client called me to report that “Medicare” had called her to enroll her in a plan that would reduce her Medicare Part B monthly premium (for most beneficiaries in 2024, a monthly premium of $174.70 ) with a plan that offers a “give back” of a significant dollar amount over $100 per month. She wondered if she should enroll in the plan. Based on what she told me, we agreed she received an unsolicited call from a telephone sales bank of agents trolling to change her plan. I reminded her that Medicare will rarely call a beneficiary unless the beneficiary initiated a call that required the Medicare agent to research a matter and then call back. Medicare, the IRS, and Social Security will use mail correspondence, and virtually will never call you. Our discussion ended with a review of her benefits and her confirmation that she wanted to stay with her current plan.
What happens to the guileless soul who answers the phone and is caught up in the telephone sales pitch? This has happened to a couple of my clients who engaged in the unsolicited telephone transaction and did not realize their plan had actually been changed. Each client called me with questions about their plan, and I welcomed this opportunity to be of service. When I looked in the carrier’s portal, the member did not show up as my client nor myself as the enrolling agent of record. After making several investigative calls to sort the matter out, I called the client back. Each then recalled that someone had called them, but they did not want the plan and did not think their plan had been changed. This was a tele sales, and based on how it was structured, smells like a scam.
To go back to their preferred plan would require waiting until the annual enrollment period when Medicare allows beneficiaries to change their plan, and the effective date would be January 1 of the next year.
Another trusting client got swept away in the telephone sales bank’s call and left the current Medicare Advantage plan (which had identical benefits and lower co-pays) for the allure of a new plan. Normally one cannot switch outside of specific enrollment periods. The phone banks can use several special enrollment periods (now provided by heat, fires, floods and other natural disasters) to change the plan. When the beneficiary really looked at the plan after the enrollment, buyer’s remorse followed. The only recourse was to wait for the next enrollment period allowing plan changes (or a special enrollment period, as an example, a move) and make the change then. Until then, the price paid to receive the Part B premium reduction was that hospital co-pays more than doubled per day and other routine medical benefits cost more to offset the Part B reduction.
How do you stop unwanted calls? The Federal Trade Commission has a National Do Not Call Registry where you can register your telephone number. This registry keeps legitimate businesses from making unwanted calls to you. You can email the registry at donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222. Scammers, however, scoff at the Do Not Call designation by your telephone number. To address this problem, the FTC has excellent guidance you can locate at consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-block-unwanted-calls#report. You’ll find the content is very helpful and easy to implement.
Protect the plan you carefully selected for your healthcare needs and guard your Medicare card and personal information—so much depends on it.
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