Opuscula Where oh where Is Medicare hiding?

TODAY’S MAIL BROUGHT my quarterly statement from AvMed, a Medicare Advantage insurer.

According to AvMed, it paid out $221.20 for provider services.

My share was $0.

So why am I complaining?

I’M UPSET BECAUSE someone is scamming Medicare.

I’m also complaining because the only ways I can get Medicare’s attention to alert it to the scam is to telephone, fax, or use its web mail.

• I loathe the telephone and being on hold for “forever”
• My excellent phone service lacks fax support
• The web mail insisted I keyed an unacceptable character; it didn’t let me know WHAT that character might be, but simply refused to forward my message.

Medicare raised the basic rate from $104/month to $134/month and, I’m given to understand, it will go up again next year to $154/month.

Imagine a person trying to survive on minimal Social Security now having to pay an onerous portion to Medicare. This increase was in the works before Trump took office, so don’t blame him.

We – Medicare recipients – are frequently encouraged to report what we perceive to be scams taking advantage of Medicare’s “largess.”

Apparently AvMed doesn’t care that someone is billing it for services never rendered to a former subscriber.

I have not been an AvMed subscriber since 12/31/2016.

The more an insurance company pays out, the more Medicare pays the company. There is no impetuous for an insurer to report what, to this scrivener at least, is a blatant attempt to scam Medicare.

AvMed is a pretty good company. Because it has providers I want, I’ll go back to it in October, even though there are other companies with better benefits. It’s a balancing act.

I don’t want to think that AvMed is a willing partner in the scam, but since it’s been two years since I was with AvMed and it still claims to be paying providers for services not rendered . . .

I sent a snail mail letter to AvMed Member Services in Miami detailing my complaint.

I was going to send a copy to CMS (Medicare), but CMS lacks a mailing address. Seems impossible, but such is life with government agencies. It’s easy to contact the IRS, why not CMS?

I did manage to send a web mail note to CMS telling it someone is scamming it and asking for someone to call me for details. It is NOT likely a Medicare rep will call and even if I am called, what are the odds (slim to none) that anything will be done?

I could write to my congresswoman, but she is less than useless. (When she was asked for help in the past, she simply ignored the request.) Maybe I should contact presidential want-to-be Marco Rubio.

I don’t have the resources (read “connections”) to investigate why AvMed claims it paid some provider for some services never rendered and I am beginning to suspect that, despite encouraging reporting of Medicare abuse, no one really cares. After all, it’s easy to increase the monthly rates.

I am a little “upset” since I paid into Medicare since its inception and now I’m having to pay again.

Our government at work. (Maybe we’re better off when it goes on strike.)

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