Fake Wellness For All calls from Medicare
I received a call from a Coeur d’Alene reader with a warning that she had received a call from a lady claiming to be from Medicare and peddling a program called Wellness for All. The caller informed our reader that she was going to send out a free test if her doctor approved it.
The catch? In order to get the test kit the reader would have to provide her Social Security number and her Medicare number. As usual, the caller was vague on the details and the purpose of the test kit. It wasn’t clear to the reader if it was for a COVID-19 test or something else.
When you receive calls like this do not give the caller your Social Security number or your Medicare number. Often the purpose of these types of calls is to get your Medicare information so they can charge procedures against your Medicare account.
This happened to a local reader about a year ago. Her Medicare account was charged with a knee replacement for her right knee. Three years after the claim was made on her Medicare account, our reader actually needed a knee replacement on her right knee. However, she was denied the procedure because her account showed a right knee replacement had already been performed on her. It ended up taking her about eight months and a lot of paperwork and frustration to get her account corrected so she could have her surgery. The person who received the surgery was located in Florida, a place our reader had never lived or visited.
You can protect your account from fraud by reviewing your monthly Medicare statement and verifying that all charges are appropriate. If not, then notify Medicare immediately to correct any inaccuracies.
When to file or not to file an insurance claim
The insurance industry is founded on the principle of being there when you need them. But what does that mean? Many of us can sleep better at night knowing that if anything happens to our home or vehicle and we have insurance we are covered in the case of a loss.
But consider this. Before you determine what is covered by your insurance policy, decide if filing a claim with your insurance company is in your best interest. Why? Because insurance companies use a tool called the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange or C.L.U.E report. This is a shared database that allows insurance companies to record claims that you have made with them. Some say that it also reports inquiries as well as actual claims.
Why is this important? Because this allows insurance companies to access the information from the database to let them know if you would be a good customer. Also a lot of insurers believe that if somebody uses their coverage, they likely don’t want them as a customer. Insurance companies use nice sounding words like you’re a non-renewal rather than letting you know they actually canceled. Either way, the result is the same and leaves the customer without coverage.
If you have too many claims or inquiries on your C.L.U.E. report, other insurers will often treat that as a red flag and may refuse to write you a policy for up the three years. Another consequence to filing claims is that if your insurance company does renew your policy, they will likely increase your premiums.
One possible solution is to raise your deductible as high as your insurer or your mortgage holder will allow you to. This will lower your monthly premiums, deter you from filing small claims and still provide you with coverage in the event of a major loss. Insurance should be used for significant loss situations.
Note to renters, your landlord is not responsible for your belongings so you will need to purchase your own renters insurance to cover your possessions.
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Repair challenges
A reader recently wrote to me telling me of his refrigerator appliance repair challenge. The refrigerator was getting too cold so he began calling to find a repair person to fix the problem. Some repair services never returned calls, one did not show up at the scheduled time, and the repair line of a local appliance store that also offers repairs simply dropped his call after 10 minutes on hold.
So what is going on here the reader wondered? The one technician he was able to ask thought it was due to older repair technicians retiring and not enough new technicians to fill the void. Of course COVID-19 could also be the culprit as it is with so many customer service based businesses these days with repair employees out sick and everyone at home using their appliances more.
Also, buying a new appliance may not be the answer either as many appliances are in short supply due to the COVID-19 shutdowns. If you do buy a new appliance and are offered a service contract consider them very carefully as the reader could not get through on the service line of a local appliance seller. What good is a contract if you can’t get through to request service?
The reader finally fixed his own problem by watching many videos online and ordering a couple of replacement parts. Sometimes necessity forces us to figure things out for ourselves when help is not available.
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Remember: I’m on your side.
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If you have encountered a consumer issue that you have questions about or think our readers should know about, please send me an email at terridickersonadvocate@gmail.com or call me at 208-274-4458. As The CDA Press Consumer Gal, I’m here to help. I’m a copywriter working with businesses on marketing strategy, a columnist, a veterans advocate and a consumer advocate living in Coeur d’Alene.