States sound alarm about fraudsters urging cancer screenings
by Katherine Skiba, AARP, April 19, 2019
Jerry Armstrong, an IBM retiree in mountain-fringed Sonora,
Calif., got a phone call out of the blue.
Did he have any direct relatives who had cancer, and would he
like a free DNA test that would reveal his propensity for the disease?
Armstrong, 76, whose mother, sister and daughter suffered from
cancer, never suspected that the call could be a scam.
The Californian, who was a U.S. Air Force medic in Vietnam and
spent 25 years with IBM before retiring as a senior buyer, was keen to take the
test.
So he gave the caller, “Andy from Florida,” his Medicare number.
A couple of weeks later, a well-packaged test kit showed up, and
as directed, Armstrong swabbed the inside of his mouth twice to collect fluid
samples, which he put into separate vials.
But thanks to his wife, doubts began creeping in. “She
oftentimes has more of a jaundiced eye than I do,” says Armstrong, who never
shipped the vials back.
Turns out, his wife was on to something, as officials in two
other states, Kentucky and Nebraska, have begun issuing warnings about Medicare and Medicaid scams touting
no-cost DNA swab tests for cancer.
In Kentucky, Attorney General Andy Beshear has launched an
investigation after Louisville residents reported a suspicious van driving
around and its occupants paying Medicaid participants $20 in exchange for a DNA
sample and health insurance information, according to his
spokeswoman Crystal Staley.
In a warning, Beshear said scammers were trying to steal
victims’ insurance and personal information in order to be reimbursed for
services that either were not provided or medically necessary.
“Kentuckians should rely on the advice of their primary care
physicians — not someone who is calling them by phone or driving by in an
unmarked vehicle,” he said.
In Nebraska, state officials have received multiple reports of
groups going to senior centers and residential communities and assisted living
facilities offering to swab people's cheeks for genetic material for purported
DNA cancer checks, according to the Nebraska Department of Insurance. That
occurred in multiple locations statewide, according to Peg Jasa, a spokeswoman
for the department, which is alerting all other states and working with federal
officials on the reports.
Bruce Ramge, department director, told the Omaha World-Herald
that calls show that older people are under the impression that the cost of
testing will be covered by Medicare. Department officials have heard that
testing organizations are charging up to $1,000, Jasa says.
AARP's Fraud Watch Network helpline, meanwhile, has heard about
15 reports from consumers, including Armstrong in California, who revealed
sensitive information for a purported DNA cancer screen, says Amy Nofziger, who
directs the helpline. “This is definitely getting some traction,” she observes.
Typically, helpline callers report being told by phone that
their doctor said they are eligible for the free test and if the doctor
prescribes it, Medicare will foot the bill, Nofziger says.
An uptick in complaints about the so-called buccal swab tests,
which involve collecting DNA from cells inside a person's cheek to screen for
cancer, began after Medicare issued guidance on March 16, saying it would
cover, on a national basis, a Food and Drug Administration–approved genetic
test for patients with advanced cancer, Nofziger says.
Eligible patients are those with recurrent, relapsed,
drug-resistant, metastatic, or stage III or IV cancer, and they must be seeking
further cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy, the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services says.
CMS officials urge Medicare recipients to report concerns about
suspicious activity to its toll-free number, 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227).
In California, Armstrong is grateful that his skeptical wife
stepped in and put the brakes on a probable scam. “In this day and age,” he
says, “if someone offers you something for free, it's too good to be
true."
AARP’s Fraud Watch Network can help you
spot and avoid scams. Sign up for free “watchdog alerts," review our scam-tracking map, or call our toll-free fraud helpline if you or a loved one
suspect you’ve been a victim.
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