By reporting billing errors and suspected fraud or abuse, you play a big part in protecting yourself, family, and friends from healthcare scams and saving the Medicare system for future generations.
- Contact Iowa SHIIP–SMP. We can help you correct a possible error that will end up as savings to you and to Medicare.
- The World Privacy Forum estimates that one out of every ten dollars spent on American healthcare is lost to fraud. That amounts to 80 billion dollars each year. Most Medicare and insurance fraud rely upon stolen personal information. Spend a few minutes to check your medical statements. Report any billing errors that you find. You are in a key position to prevent waste and detect possible fraud.
- If you suspect someone has used your Medical ID, contact your insurance company right away. If you have Medicare, call the SMP and we will send a report to the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. You also should file reports with your local police department and the Federal Trade Commission.
Reporting Online
You can report fraud directly to the Iowa SMP by using our Fraud Reporting Form.
Defining Terms
Before filling out the form, read the definitions below to fill out the fraud reporting form as accurately as possible. If you prefer, you may give only your name, phone number and email address.
Complainant: Person making the report (i.e. your information)
Beneficiary: Person who's benefits have been affected. If you are a caregiver filling out the form for someone else, put your name information in the "complainant" fields and the information of who you care for in the "Beneficiary" fields.
Suspected Medicare Fraud: If believe you are the victim of a Medicare Scam, detail the events of what happened in this field.
Medicare Billing: If you have find an error on your Medicare Summary Notice (MSN), put the details of the billing error in this field.
Healthcare-Related Scam: Detail the events of a non-Medicare related scam. This is most commonly used with regard to Medical Equipment Scams.
Subject: Fill out any information you have for the person committing the fraud, scam, or error. This could be the phone number the fraudulent call came from, the business the made the error on your MSN, etc.