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 Senior advocate warns of local insurance scam
September 14, 2007
Salesmen have been showing up on the doorsteps of area seniors,
offering to "fix their Medicare for them," says Jeri Schaff,
Director of the Maury River Senior Center. That supposed
fix involves something called a Medicare Advantage Plan. "There’s
nothing wrong with Medicare Advantage Plans on their own," says
Schaff. But, Schaff warns, "People don’t understand that
signing up for a Medicare Advantage Plan replaces their original
Medicare. Their original Medicare, as long as they’re signed up
for one of these plans, is no longer any good."
| Schaff talked about
this issue and more on Seniors Sounding Off, Monday,
Sept. 17, at 3 p.m., on Channel 18 |
The deceptive sales practices
reach beyond the local community and have attracted attention
nationwide. Seven companies that offer the plans have
voluntarily stopped selling them while they work out new
marketing guidelines, according to
Bloomberg.com. And a
Senate bill would standardize
the marketing requirements of the Medicare Advantage program.
In the meantime, what can we do to
protect ourselves from these and other scams? Schaff says
seniors should wait before signing any documents involving
insurance and financial matters.
“Do not make any decisions or sign any
papers regarding your Social Security, your Medicare, your
health insurance or your bank accounts or your life insurance
without talking to at least one other person who isn’t there at
the time that you’re solicited by a salesperson, says Schaff.”
Consumers can file a complaint with
Medicare about Advantage Plans.
Get the Medicare form that explains the
procedure.
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