Protecting your memory-care relatives from Medicare scams

By SYLVIA GORDON

Guest Columnist

Many people who are having memory issues are able to remain in their homes for many years. You may have helped your loved one purchase the Medicare insurance plans that best fit her needs. Together you worked with a Medicare specialist to find a plan that covers all her medications, doctors and fits her budget. Close the file, your job is done, right? Unfortunately, people who live alone with memory issues like to answer their phones and talk to strangers about their Medicare needs.

It’s not a problem with an easy solution. “Don’t answer a number you don’t recognize” is difficult when the calls are all spoofed to come from a local area code. I’ve had many adult children come in to get help to move their parent back into the correct plan and out of a plan they signed up for on their own.

In order to enroll into a new plan, your relative must have her Medicare card handy to provide their number and Medicare Parts A and B start dates. Perhaps the trusted adult who is helping this relative could retain this card. It’s tough. If you’ve had to deal with a person with memory care issues, you know that much of the time they can be fine and in possession of 100 percent of their mental acuity. And at other times they are very confused. It only takes one call from one persuasive telemarketer to mess up the Medicare plans you’ve help put in place.

What to watch for? Most people are searching for those on a traditional Medicare Supplement Plan F or G, which your older relative most likely has. The caller will pitch a “similar” plan for $0 per month. What’s not to like? “I’ll save money, get the same coverage and my kids will be proud of what a savvy shopper I am.” While there are $0 per month Medicare plans and they are not scams, those are a very different type of coverage and are not the same as a Medicare Supplement Plan F or G.

Switching can usually only occur during the last three and first three months of the year – so you only have to coach and warn and monitor your loved one’s coverage from Oct. 1 to March 31. You can relax the six months, then get vigilant again! During the last three months of the year when the TV ads are running 24/7 with movie stars from your parent’s generation, have this discussion.

Sylvia Gordon is co-founder of The Medicare Family, headquartered in Noblesville, where she educates thousands on Medicare and Social Security in all 50 states. You can learn more at themedicarefamily.com.