The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is issuing this Public Service Announcement to warn the public of an emerging hospice fraud scheme that targets vulnerable Medicare recipients who are not in need of hospice services. Scammers are enrolling Medicare patients in hospice care for services they do not need or for services that are not provided. Enrollment can also occur without the patient's knowledge, allowing the scammers to bill Medicare for a patient that is not present in the hospice facility. Some scammers use door-to-door solicitation tactics and offer free home services such as house cleaning and meal delivery, which are conditional on using a specific hospice.
Recent schemes include enrolling Medicare recipients in hospice care despite patients having no terminal illness or chronic condition, enrolling patients in hospice care without their knowledge, hospice providers billing Medicare without the beneficiary's knowledge for services that were not provided, recruiters paying bonuses for enrolling a specific number of patients in hospice, falsifying diagnosis paperwork for hospice care, and pressuring patients to sign up for hospice care when they do not need it.
Tips to Protect Yourself
- Never give out Medicare or other insurance information to anyone who is not your doctor.
- Never accept incentives like gift cards or money in return for hospice services and be wary of too good to be true offers.
- Use Medicare's Hospice Compare site to look up provider ratings; avoid providers with low star ratings.
- Always review your explanation of benefits statements and Medicare Summary Notices for unknown providers and services
Report It
If you believe you have been a victim of a similar fraudulent activity, please file a report with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov. Be sure to include as much information as possible, such as identifying information about the company or health care provider including name, phone number, address, email address, and website.
If you have questions about Medicare, please visit www.Medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).