Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska (BCBSNE) is aware of recent situations where individuals with Medicare have either:
- Received COVID at-home test kits in the mail that they never ordered, or
- Received an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) for COVID test kits that they never ordered and never received.
In these cases, the Medicare members say that they don’t remember ever ordering the test kits, and don’t recognize the names of the companies billing Medicare for the test kits.
Unfortunately, these occurrences are part of ongoing national fraud campaigns targeting Medicare beneficiaries. Fraud schemes like this, together with health care waste and billing abuse, cost Medicare an estimated $60 billion each year.
If you received at-home COVID test kits that you did not order, or noticed on your Medicare EOB a charge for at-home COVID test kits that you never ordered and never received, please report it to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General by calling 1-800-447-8477 or by using their online form.
If you have Medicare, you can help prevent and detect Medicare fraud:
- Prevent becoming a victim of Medicare fraud by protecting your medical identification cards and numbers. Only share Medicare card information with trusted parties who need that information to serve you, such as health care providers.
- Detect potential Medicare fraud by reviewing your Medicare statements to make sure all of the services listed were actually requested and received. Nebraska’s Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP), a program within the Nebraska Department of Insurance, offers a free My Healthcare Tracker tool to make this easier.
For additional information and resources to fight Medicare fraud, visit the official website of SMP. SMP is a national program created by the federal government with local program chapters all throughout the country. Nebraska’s SMP program is part of the Nebraska Department of Insurance – visit the Nebraska SMP website.
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