Email safety

Medicare Open Enrollment Starts October 15. The Fake Emails Start Now.

Every fall, the same thing happens. Open Enrollment gets close, the TV ads start, and the scam emails show up a week or two ahead of the real thing. They know you are expecting to hear about Medicare, so they make sure you hear from them first.

This post is the “before” guide. It covers what is real, what is not, and what to do with the emails that are already arriving. On October 13 we will publish the “during” guide with the five specific fake emails that show up once enrollment is open.

The real dates, from Medicare itself

• Open Enrollment: October 15 through December 7. This is when you can join, switch, or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan.
• Coverage starts January 1 if the plan gets your request by December 7.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment: January 1 through March 31. A second window, only for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan.

Those dates come straight from Medicare.gov. Anything that tells you the deadline is sooner, or that you must act “today,” is lying to you.

What Medicare actually does and does not do

The National Council on Aging keeps a plain-language list, and it is worth memorizing. According to NCOA, Medicare will not call you out of the blue to sell you something, threaten to cancel your benefits, or ask for your Medicare number. Medicare already has your number. It does not need you to confirm it.

The same is true by email. Medicare.gov does send emails if you signed up for them on the website, but those are reminders and news. They will never ask you to reply with personal information or tap a link to keep your coverage from being cancelled.

The 5 warning signs

NCOA’s list, in the order you are most likely to see them in your inbox:

1. Promises of free things. A free back brace, free genetic testing, a free “wellness kit.” Medicare does not give away equipment by email.
2. Pressure to switch plans. “Your current plan is ending.” “You qualify for a better plan, act now.” Real plan changes come from your plan, in the mail, with your name and policy number on them.
3. A request to update your Medicare card. There is no new card. There is no plastic card. There is no chip card. Your paper card is your card.
4. A threat to cancel your coverage. Medicare does not cancel coverage by email, and it does not give 24-hour deadlines.
5. A refund you are owed. If Medicare owes you money, it comes as a check or through your bank, not through a link in an email.

Why the volume is so high

This is a large, organized business, not a handful of people with laptops. NCOA cites a Senior Medicare Patrol estimate that fraud, errors, and abuse cost Medicare about $60 billion a year. One single scheme involving orthotic braces was worth $51 million. Medicare scam ads on Facebook alone got over 215 million views in a year.

Your inbox is one of the cheapest places for them to reach you. That is why the emails are relentless, and it is why the phone makes it worse: on a small screen, a fake “Medicare” sender name looks exactly like the real thing until you tap it.

What to do this week

1. Decide right now that you will not tap a Medicare link in an email. Not one. If something seems important, go to Medicare.gov yourself by typing it into your browser, or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
2. Tap the sender name on any Medicare email and look at the address after the @ sign. Real mail from Medicare comes from a medicare.gov or cms.gov address. Everything else, delete.
3. If you want to compare plans, the free, official way is the Medicare Plan Finder on Medicare.gov, or your state’s SHIP counselor (State Health Insurance Assistance Program), who does not sell anything.
4. If a family member helps with your Medicare, forward them this post. Scammers count on you handling it alone.

If you want a full checklist for any suspicious email, not just Medicare, our guide Is this email a scam? 7 checks that take 10 seconds works for all of them.

How Easy Mail fits in

Medicare scam emails go to every address you have, including that old Yahoo account you check twice a year. Easy Mail puts Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook in one inbox on your Android home screen, so you see everything in one place and can apply the same “tap the sender name” habit to all of it. And when you clear out the junk with one-tap cleanup, the real letter from your plan is not buried under twenty fake ones.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: Medicare.gov: Joining a plan · NCOA: 5 Warning Signs of a Medicare Scam