January 2017 Senior Medicare Patrol Fraud Prevention Fact

Happy New Year from the Missouri SMP! If you are like many folks, you have made some resolutions to take better care of yourself in this new year. Now more than ever, Medicare insurance can help you keep that promise.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, millions of people with Medicare have taken advantage of expanded benefits. These include preventive services, cancer screenings, and yearly wellness visits. Many of these are available without additional costs to you.
One way you can stay healthy is to get disease prevention and early detection services. These include exams, shots, lab tests, screenings, monitoring, and counseling. If you take advantage of such services, your doctor can find health problems early when they are most treatable. Proper preventive medicine can keep you from getting some diseases as well.
The best source to find out which of these services you need is your doctor or health care provider. You also may check online at medicare-dot-gov to find a two-year calendar of Medicare-covered tests and screenings.
As always, check your Medicare Summary Notices or Explanation of Benefits to make sure you received the services for which Medicare is billed. Report suspected Medicare fraud to the Missouri Senior Medicare Patrol at (888) 515-6565.
SMPs are funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, Administration on Aging.