I received four expired covid test kits addressed to my wife yesterday. Last night I saw on the local news that it is Medicare fraud. The company is Peak Health Diagnostics and they bill Medicare then send a bill to the recipient.

https://abc11.com/medicare-fra...-did-i-get/13298180/

https://www.justice.gov/usao-n...-test-medicare-scams

https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/rich...cs-llc-0875-91339568

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Anush,

quote:

Originally posted by Anush:
I received four expired covid test kits addressed to my wife yesterday. Last night I saw on the local news that it is Medicare fraud. The company is Peak Health Diagnostics and they bill Medicare then send a bill to the recipient.

https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/rich...cs-llc-0875-91339568

If you receive something addressed to you, that you did not order, aren't you allowed to keep it without paying for it? Or is that just an old wive's tale?

I would tell them to bill these nutz

I mean, go pack sand in your ass


Oops. Sorry, I did not order these, how would you like to retrieve them?

Did you order these? Did they come in out of the blue?

OP, what are you asking or saying?

Yes, if someone sends you something you didn't order, it is, essentially a gift.

Unless I’m missing something there’s no way they can bill Medicare or you for anything unless they got your Medicare number.

I think I’d be calling Medicare and let them get involved.

quote:

Did you order these? Did they come in out of the blue?

OP, what are you asking or saying?

I am saying to watch out for this scam.

https://abc11.com/medicare-fra...-did-i-get/13298180/
https://www.justice.gov/usao-n...-test-medicare-scams

They try this almost every week with my dad. These scammers usually do this by calling and saying they need to confirm the medicare card number and have the person recite and confirm their medicare number and tell them they will send them a new card, etc. Did your wife get any call like this recently ??? God Bless

You can report Medicare fraud via the internet (just do a search for "report medicare fraud" or call 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).

My wife did not receive any call & I keep her card in my billfold. Since the scam was reported on local TV many people must be receiving the kits. She has only been to Vanderbilt & two other specialty clinics since she started receiving Medicare. If her Medicare number was hacked it would have to be at one of the 3 places.

Medicare sends periodic reports to recipients documenting all services that were billed to you, whether paid by Medicare or denied. That should show any fake covid tests and you can alert Medicare about the fraud, if you hadn’t already done so.

We received COVID kits a couple of months ago and just received notice from Blue Cross & Blue Shield that the provider will send us a bill for $289.00. We never ordered them and never give anyone our Medicare or insurance information. The insurance company is looking into it.

Interesting. My folks received Medicare and Tricare notices for $1,800 in catheters (which neither use and are both retired mil/gov medical backgrounds) My dad called the OIG while we were visiting last month and the reception from gov was oh well.

quote:

Originally posted by rocket72:
Interesting. My folks received Medicare and Tricare notices for $1,800 in catheters (which neither use and are both retired mil/gov medical backgrounds) My dad called the OIG while we were visiting last month and the reception from gov was oh well.

Weird! We got notice from our insurance company that we will be charged $7000.00 for catheters which we don't use, nor did we receive any. Medicare is looking into it as fraud.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Anush:
I received four expired covid test kits addressed to my wife yesterday. Last night I saw on the local news that it is Medicare fraud. The company is Peak Health Diagnostics and they bill Medicare then send a bill to the recipient.

https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/rich...cs-llc-0875-91339568

If you receive something addressed to you, that you did not order, aren't you allowed to keep it without paying for it? Or is that just an old wive's tale?

Not exactly. Say I order something for you from Amazon, but then I buy a lawn mower on Amazon and accidentally ship it to you. Not that you would keep it in that case, but it doesn’t mean that it is legally yours because it got shipped to you. So if it’s a legitimate mistake, you can’t legally just keep it.

Now if it’s an attempted scam, you might just say “thank you” and keep it. Back in the day I got a call at my business wanting to “verify the model number of my printer”. Pretty good scam, but I happened to be the one who answered the phone. I said “it’s an Okidata …, but if you send me ribbons I’m not going to pay for them”. Sure enough a gross of printer ribbons came, with an invoice. I courteously called them and said I’m not paying this, and if you want them back you’ll have to pay shipping AND a handling charge for me to rebox them. After a month or so they started calling trying to collect on the invoice and I told them “shipping plus $25 handling charge if you want them back”. After a couple of months my UPS driver showed up with a call tag and I said “nope- they never paid the handling charge”. I ended up with a free gross of ribbons. Still had plenty left when we transitioned to inkjet. I wish someone would try that with toner cartridges- that stuff is expensive.