A call about Medicare or your health coverage

Medicare doesn’t call to sell you anything, and it doesn’t come to your house. Your Medicare card is free and comes in the mail. Nobody needs your number to send you one.

If it’s happening now

Someone on the phone says they’re Medicare. Hang up. Caller ID can show Medicare’s name and number when it isn’t Medicare. Call 1-800-633-4227 yourself. It’s answered around the clock, except some federal holidays.

They already know your name, your doctor, or your Medicare Number. That proves nothing. Don’t confirm anything. Hang up.

They want to replace, upgrade, or “verify” your card. Hang up. Your red, white, and blue Medicare card is paper. There’s no plastic or chip version. Medicare did mail some people new cards with new numbers in March and April 2026. Those came by mail with a letter explaining why, not after a phone call. Not sure a letter is real? Call Medicare and ask.

Someone is selling a plan for next year. Don’t give your Medicare Number for a quote. Plans don’t need it. Get the plan’s name and compare it yourself at medicare.gov/plan-compare, or get free one-on-one help from your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) at shiphelp.org. Searching online? Scroll past results marked Ad or Sponsored, and look for .gov. A plan can call you only if you’re a member or gave it permission. Open Enrollment runs October 15 to December 7. Not on Medicare? For Marketplace plans, type HealthCare.gov yourself and use its Find Local Help.

Someone at your door offers free cleaning, meals, or help at home. Don’t sign anything, and don’t hand over or show your card. Medicare doesn’t make home visits. A form signed at the door can enroll you in hospice. Write down the company name.

A caller, a booth at a health fair, or someone at the door offers a free genetic test, cheek swab, cancer screening, or brace. Say no and hang up or walk away. If you need one, your own doctor orders it. If a test kit arrives that your doctor didn’t order, refuse the delivery or send it back, and write down who sent it and the date.

What to say

• I don't give my Medicare Number to anyone who calls me. I'll call Medicare myself.

• What's the name of the plan? I'll look it up on Medicare.gov before I decide anything.

• I'm not signing anything or showing my card. I'll talk to my own doctor.

• Someone I don't know got my Medicare Number. Can you go over my recent claims with me and tell me whether I should get a new number?

• An agent signed me up for a plan I didn't choose. What are my options to change it now, not just in January?

If something already left your hands

Make the calls below first. Medicare takes the fraud report on the same call. You can also tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

You gave your Medicare Number, or someone photographed your card

Call Medicare. Say someone you don’t know has your Medicare Number, and ask whether you need a new one.

Then call the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP).

Then keep checking your claims.

• Original Medicare: sign in to (or create) your account at medicare.gov/account/login. Claims usually show up within 24 hours after Medicare processes them. The paper statement, the Medicare Summary Notice, comes only every six months. Or switch to electronic notices in your account settings, and you’ll get an email any month a claim is processed.
• Medicare Advantage or a drug plan: your plan mails an Explanation of Benefits each month you use it. For anything newer, call the number on your plan card.
• Hospice: it’s billed to Original Medicare even if you’re in a Medicare Advantage plan, so it won’t show on your plan’s statement. Call Medicare and ask.

Look for equipment you never got (catheters, braces, wound supplies), tests you never took, doctors you’ve never seen, and hospice. Some people find out when a doctor or pharmacy says Medicare won’t pay because they’re “in hospice.” If that happens, call Medicare and SMP right away. A line that says you owe $0 can still be fraud.

If a claim shows care you never got, also report it at IdentityTheft.gov.

If you also gave your Social Security number, bank account, or card number, go to I gave out a code, password, or card number.

You signed something at the door

Call your own doctor and Medicare, and ask whether you’ve been enrolled in hospice or anything else. If you were put in hospice and don’t want it, you can stop it at any time. You’ll sign a form with the end date, and your regular Medicare coverage starts again. Report the company to SMP, and to the FBI at ic3.gov with its name, phone number, address, and anything it left behind.

You were signed up for a plan you didn’t choose

Call Medicare at 1-800-633-4227 and explain what happened. Its representatives can help with options for changing plans at any time of year. From October 15 to December 7 you can also pick a different plan yourself, but that change starts January 1.

You paid

Call your bank or card company at the number on your card. Then follow I paid or sent money. Plans send a bill and can’t take payment over the phone, and Medicare cards are free. If someone later offers to get the money back for a fee, that’s a second scam: Someone offers to get my money back.

What it looks like

October 16. Last week you typed your phone number into a website that offered to compare Medicare plans.

(904) 555-0127

Incoming call · 11:05 AM

1. Caller Hi, this is Dana. I'm a licensed insurance agent. You asked for information about Medicare plans in your area?
2. You I did, yes.
3. Caller Great. You qualify for a plan with a zero-dollar premium, dental and vision, and a card for groceries.
4. Caller Those extras are limited, so I'd like to get you locked in today.
5. Caller I just need your Medicare Number and date of birth to pull up the plans you qualify for.

You did ask to be called. What do you do?

• Give her the number. You asked for this call
• Ask for the plan's name, then compare it yourself on Medicare.gov or with a free SHIP counselor
• Hang up without asking anything

Show the answers

• Wrong move Give her the number. You asked for this call Agreeing to a call isn't agreeing to enroll. Plans don't need your Medicare Number for a quote, and Medicare says not to join a plan over the phone unless you called and asked for help.
• Best move Ask for the plan's name, then compare it yourself on Medicare.gov or with a free SHIP counselor The name is all you need to check that plan's doctors, drugs, and costs against your current one, and it gives away nothing. Open Enrollment runs until December 7. If you still want the plan after comparing, you can find it there yourself.
• Okay Hang up without asking anything Safe. But if you were thinking about switching, you still have to compare plans, and Medicare.gov or a SHIP counselor does that without a sales pitch.

Asking for information isn't asking to enroll. Get the plan's name, give nothing, and compare it yourself before you decide.

You saw Dr. Whitcombe on August 12 and had blood drawn. You haven't seen another doctor or had another test since. Today you signed in to your Medicare account yourself.

www.medicare.gov/my/

Your claims

Aug 12, 2026 · Office visit
Provider: Nora Whitcombe, MD
Amount billed: $210.00 · You may be billed: $26.09

Aug 12, 2026 · Lab: comprehensive metabolic panel
Provider: Ridgeline Clinical Laboratory
Ordered by: Nora Whitcombe, MD
Amount billed: $64.00 · You may be billed: $0.00

Aug 27, 2026 · Lab: hereditary cancer genetic panel
Provider: Sunvale Genomics LLC
Ordered by: Aaron Kessner, DO
Amount billed: $8,940.00 · You may be billed: $0.00

What do you do?

• Nothing. You don't owe anything on the lines you don't recognize
• Call your doctor's office about the lab you've never heard of
• Call Medicare or your Senior Medicare Patrol about the genetic test

Show the answers

• Wrong move Nothing. You don't owe anything on the lines you don't recognize You usually pay nothing for lab tests Medicare covers, so a $0 line is easy to skip. But someone billed $8,940 to your Medicare Number for a test you never took. That's fraud even when you owe nothing, and whoever billed it has your number.
• Okay Call your doctor's office about the lab you've never heard of Harmless, but that line is probably fine. Doctors often send blood to an outside lab, which bills Medicare itself with your doctor listed as the one who ordered it. The genetic test is the line to call about.
• Best move Call Medicare or your Senior Medicare Patrol about the genetic test A test you never took, ordered by a doctor you've never met, for thousands of dollars. That's what the Senior Medicare Patrol tells people to report. They'll help you report it, and Medicare can go over what else has been billed under your number.

Read every line, including the $0 ones. An unfamiliar lab on the day of your own doctor's visit is normal. A doctor you've never met is not.

10:40 a.m. Your phone rings.

(904) 555-0143

Incoming call · 10:40 AM

1. Caller Hi, I'm Marisol with Larkmoor Home Care. We're helping Medicare members in your area.
2. Caller You qualify for free help at home. Someone to clean twice a week, and meals delivered.
3. Caller Medicare pays for all of it. I'll stop by this afternoon with the consent form. I just need your Medicare Number to get you in the system.
4. You What's the form?
5. Caller It's the consent so we can start your services. It's standard.

You could use the help. What do you do?

• Read her the number so she can set it up
• Say no thanks, give her nothing, and ask your own doctor what help at home you qualify for
• Tell her to come by. You'll read the form and sign nothing

Show the answers

• Wrong move Read her the number so she can set it up Your Medicare Number is what gets billed. Medicare says to give your card and number only to your doctor or people you know should have it.
• Best move Say no thanks, give her nothing, and ask your own doctor what help at home you qualify for Your doctor can tell you what help at home you qualify for, and whether hospice fits at all. Hospice is comfort care for people expected to live six months or less. While you're in it, Medicare won't pay for treatment meant to cure the illness, and a form signed for "free help" can put you in hospice.
• Okay Tell her to come by. You'll read the form and sign nothing Safe if you sign nothing. But it's easier to say no on the phone than at your door. The FBI warned in June 2026 that free cleaning or meals can be tied to enrolling in one particular hospice.

A signature on a "free help" form can put you in hospice. Ask your own doctor what help you qualify for.

What they’ll ask for

Each of these is a scam, or a sales call breaking Medicare’s rules. Hang up, then check it yourself.

“I’m calling from Medicare. I need to verify your Medicare Number.” Medicare calls asking for personal information only in limited cases, like returning a call you made. If you didn’t call them, it isn’t them.

“You’re getting a new plastic card.” “Medicare is switching to cards with a chip.” The red, white, and blue paper card is the only one. There’s no upgrade.

“There’s a small fee for your new card.” Real cards are free.

“Your benefits will be canceled unless you confirm your details.” Medicare’s advice for this exact call: hang up and call them.

“Your doctor asked us to send you a test kit,” or “a back brace.” Call your doctor’s office at the number you already have and ask.

“Sign up today. These benefits won’t be here tomorrow.” Agents aren’t allowed to pressure you. Open Enrollment runs October 15 to December 7 every year.

“Join and we’ll send you a $50 gift card.” Plans can’t offer cash, or gifts worth more than $15, to get you to join.

“Read me your bank account or credit card number to set up your premium.” Plan salespeople can’t ask for payment over the phone or online. The plan sends a bill.

“Free cleaning and meals. Just sign here.” That’s the hospice scam the FBI warned about in June 2026. Sign nothing at the door.

What not to waste time on

Working out whether the caller is a real licensed agent. Some are, and some will have your permission to call. It doesn’t change what you do: get the plan’s name, give nothing, and compare it yourself. Knowing your Medicare Number doesn’t make a caller real, either.