Medicare fraud is when doctors or other providers deceive Medicare into paying when it should not or paying more than it should. This is against the law and should be reported.

Some types of fraud include

• Billing Medicare for services you never received;
• Billing Medicare for services that are different than the ones you received (usually more expensive);
• Continuing to bill Medicare for rented medical equipment after you have returned it;
• Offering or performing services that you do not need in order to charge Medicare for more services;
• Telling you that Medicare will pay for something when it won’t;
• Using another person’s Medicare number or card.

To report fraud you should either contact 1-800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227) or the Inspector General’s fraud hotline at 1-800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477). When it investigates the potential fraud, Medicare will not use your name if you do not want it to.