JCH&L Alerts Community to Scam Phone Calls

Jefferson Community Health & Life staff were notified this week of three community members receiving scam phone calls regarding Medicare from caller IDs that identified JCH&L and other area hospitals.

“Medicare will never call you and ask you to give your Medicare ID number or other personal health information, and area hospitals won’t either. JCH&L or another hospital may call you about appointments or other information related to a visit. But if you are suspicious, please hang up and call us directly at 402-729-3351,” said Kim Shadduck, JCH&L business office manager. “Please do not give your Medicare number, social security number or other such personal information over the phone.”

JCH&L wants to alert the community that there are a number of scam calls happening again, and they may use JCH&L or other area hospitals’ caller IDs.

Medicare states the following on Medicare.gov:

Guard your card and protect your personal information

• To help protect against identity theft, Medicare has mailed new Medicare cards to people with Medicare. Your new card has a new Medicare Number that’s unique to you, instead of your Social Security Number.
• Don’t share your Medicare Number or other personal information with anyone who contacts you by phone, email, or by approaching you in person, unless you’ve given them permission in advance.
• Medicare, or someone representing Medicare, will only call and ask for personal information in these situations:
  1. A Medicare health or drug plan can call you if you’re already a member of the plan. The agent who helped you join can also call you.
  2. A customer service representative from 1-800-MEDICARE can call you if you’ve called and left a message or a representative said that someone would call you back.
• Only give personal information like your Medicare Number to doctors, insurers acting on your behalf, or trusted people in the community who work with Medicare like your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP).
• Be familiar with how Medicare uses your personal information. If you join a Medicare plan, the plan will let you know how it will use your personal information.

If someone calls you and asks for your Medicare Number or other personal information, hang up and call us at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). TTY: 1-877-486-2048.

If you suspect identity theft, or feel like you gave your personal information to someone you shouldn’t have, contact the Federal Trade Commission.