Medicare 2026

Protect Your Medicare Number: Simple Ways to Spot Fraud

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Your Medicare number is a lot like a credit card number. In the wrong hands, it can be used to bill for services you never got, drain benefits you'll need later, and tangle your medical records for months. With scam calls and mailers picking up around big Medicare deadlines, now is a good time for Luzerne County residents to review a few simple habits that keep your number — and your coverage — safe.

Wilkes-Barre seniors: your Medicare number is worth guarding

The good news: most Medicare fraud is preventable with a little awareness. Here's what to watch for and what to do if something feels off.

Treat your Medicare card like cash

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) offer the same core advice: guard your Medicare number the way you'd guard a bank card.

• Carry your red, white, and blue Medicare card only when you need it (for a new provider visit, for example). Otherwise, keep it at home in a safe place.
• Never give your Medicare number to someone who calls, texts, emails, or knocks on your door out of the blue.
• Don't post pictures of your Medicare card on social media — even a partial number can be enough for a scammer to piece together.
• Shred old statements, envelopes, or paperwork that show your Medicare number before you throw them away.

Medicare will not call you to "verify" your number, offer you a new card for a fee, or send someone to your door to sign you up for anything.

Know the scams making the rounds

Fraudsters change their pitch, but the playbook stays roughly the same. A few common ones the Senior Medicare Patrol flags:

• "Free" braces, genetic tests, or medical equipment. A caller offers a back brace, knee brace, or DNA cancer screening at "no cost to you" and just needs your Medicare number. Medicare then gets billed hundreds or thousands of dollars for items you may never receive — or don't need.
• Fake Medicare representatives. Someone claims your card is being "updated" or that you need a new plastic or chip card. There is no new card coming. If yours is lost, you request a replacement yourself through Medicare.
• Pressure calls during enrollment season. Around the Annual Enrollment Period (Oct. 15 – Dec. 7) and the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (Jan. 1 – March 31), scam calls spike. Real licensed agents are not allowed to cold-call you without permission.
• Phishing texts and emails. Messages that look official but ask you to "click here to confirm your Medicare information" are almost always fake.

If a stranger leads with urgency ("act today or lose your benefits"), that's your cue to hang up.

Read your Medicare statements — really read them

One of the strongest fraud-fighting tools you already have is your Medicare Summary Notice (MSN) if you have Original Medicare, or the Explanation of Benefits (EOB) if you're in a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan.

Every few months, sit down with a cup of coffee and look for:

• Services or equipment you don't remember getting.
• Duplicate charges for the same visit.
• A provider's name you don't recognize.
• Dates when you weren't even at the doctor.

You can also create a free account at MyMedicare.gov to see claims sooner than the paper statements arrive.

What to do if you suspect fraud

If something looks wrong, don't panic — and don't ignore it. Take these steps:

1. Call the provider first. Sometimes it's a simple billing mistake or a coding error. 2. Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to report suspicious charges. 3. Contact your Senior Medicare Patrol. Pennsylvania's SMP is trained specifically to help beneficiaries review statements and report fraud. It's free and confidential. 4. Reach out to APPRISE, Pennsylvania's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). APPRISE counselors can sit with you — often at a local senior center in the Wilkes-Barre area — and go over your paperwork.

If your Medicare number has already been shared with a scammer, report it right away. Medicare can flag your account and, in some cases, issue a new number.

Local context: more plans, more mailers

Wilkes-Barre is in Luzerne County, where a large number of Medicare Advantage and Part D plans are available each year. That's good for choice — but it also means more marketing, more mail, and more phone calls during enrollment season. Not every piece of mail is a scam, but a healthy dose of skepticism goes a long way. If you're not sure whether a letter or call is legitimate, an APPRISE counselor can help you sort real from fake before you share any information.

It also helps to know a few program-level facts, so scammers can't twist them:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap on covered prescription drugs is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027.
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap is gone as of 2025 — Part D now has three phases.
• The optional Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs across the year in monthly installments.
• IRMAA income-related surcharges begin above $109,000 for a single filer in 2026.

If a caller tries to "explain" these rules in a way that pressures you to hand over your Medicare number, that's a red flag.