Lawndale Tribune AND lAwNDAle News The Weekly Newspaper of Lawndale Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - October 13, 2016 Lawndale Routs Santa Monica in League Opener The Lawndale High School football team tallied 536 yards on offense in a 49-20 win over Santa Monica last Friday. Sophomore running back Jordan Wilmore (No.1) rushed for 247 yards and two touchdowns. The Cardinals improve to 3-3 overall on the season and 1-0 in Ocean League play. Photo by Dirk Dewachter. Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................2 Classifieds............................3 Community Briefs...............2 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals................................ 6-7 Pets........................................8 Police Reports.....................3 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Friday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 68˚/63˚ Saturday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 70˚/64˚ Sunday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 70˚/63˚ Medicare Enrollment Opens the Door for Scammers By Rob McCarthy Since the Medicare system keeps every Medicare recipients and their families should beneficiary’s policy number and personal be on the lookout for health-care scams and information, they wouldn’t be calling a South identity thieves who use the open enrollment Bay resident’s home to verify or update the period that starts Saturday to rip off seniors. information on file. If the phone rings and the caller says he or Seniors should never give out personal she is from the Medicare office, just hang up. identifying information over the phone or Identity thieves will use various schemes to someone at the front door, authorities to steal seniors’ personal and financial say. What if the caller knows the first few information during the Medicare open numbers of your Medicare account or your enrollment period, which runs from Oct. checking account? Don’t fall for that one 15 to Dec. 7, says a warning from the L.A. either. Medicare doesn’t collect on “overdue” County District Attorney’s Office. Con artists medical bills over the phone. They do it by turn brazen this time of year. This can’t be said enough. Do not give our sensitive personal information to anyone who calls claiming to be a representative from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. They will come to the house posing as a Medicare sales agent or call seniors to urge them to join a prescription plan or risk losing their health care benefits. They promise refunds or discounted Medicare products, but they’re not giving deals. They are stealing personal information, according to the county prosecutor’s office. “Their intended goal is to steal identifying information to apply for lines of credit or to commit Medicare fraud by purchasing items that the victims never receive,” according to the alert issued for L.A. County seniors, their families and caregivers. The con artists will lie to Medicare recipients about the prescription drug benefit. The drug benefit is voluntary, and anyone who says it is required is lying. Medicare Part D is a supplemental policy that a senior or someone on disability with Medicare coverage can elect to buy or not. “Medicare will never call and ask for your Medicare or Social Security number,” officials say. U.S. mail, and there’s a toll-free phone number for consumers to call with questions about benefits, re-enrollment and billing questions. Medicare enrollees can review their Medicare coverage options either by calling 1-800-MEDICARE or visiting the web site Medicare.gov. One in five seniors has been the victim of financial fraud. Con artists use a variety of ways to get the hard-earned savings of seniors, fraud investigators say. Being aware of the warning signs is the best line of defense, especially for those Medicare recipients who may feel pressured to decide about next year’s coverage for their health care and prescription drugs. Federal officials rely on Medicare recipients to fight against healthcare fraud in the system. Medicare and Medicaid lose billions of dollars each year to scam artists. How do people know if they need to change their Medicare plans? People in a Medicare health or prescription drug plan should review the “Evidence of Coverage” and “Annual Notice of Change” they receive in the mail from their plans for October. If their plans are changing for 2017, seniors and other eligible Medicare recipients should verify that their plan will meet their medical needs. Medicare enrollees who wish to remain in their current plan will be automatically re-enrolled in the plan if they do nothing. Sid Kirchmeimer, author of “Scam-Proof Your Life,” calls open enrollment for Medicare a “prime time for unscrupulous salesmen to pressure you to buy supplemental insurance products that will supposedly save you thousands.” His advice is compare medigap policies at medicare.gov before buying a supplement policy or signing anything. Relatives and friends have a role to play in combatting this seasonal fraud. Talk with a relative, neighbor or friend who lives alone about the phone fraud regarding their Medicare coverage. Seniors are most at risk of scams because they’re polite and will listen to a crook’s sales pitch. Medicare enrollment opens the door for con artists. The quickest way to slam it in their faces is with a firm “no thanks” and then hang up the phone. You can give away this advice, just make sure to keep your personal information private. • “Medicare will never call and ask for your Medicare or Social Security number.”
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