Medicare open enrollment is under way, and the phone calls that come with it have started. Michigan’s insurance regulator and health department put out a joint warning this month about callers who say prescription drug coverage is mandatory and that coverage will be lost without it. The claim is false, and the state gave a single number for checking any such call.
The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) issued the warning as open enrollment began, and local TV coverage followed two days later. Their message is short: Part D is voluntary, and anyone who gets a call about it should hang up and dial 800-633-4227.
The practical question for anyone who has taken one of these calls is whether Part D enrollment really is required, and whether the caller could really be from Medicare. According to the state, the answer to both is no. Open enrollment runs October 15 through December 7, but that window is a chance to change plans, not a demand to join one.
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What DIFS and MDHHS say the callers claim
The state’s October 12 press release describes a script in which scammers tell people they must join a prescription drug plan or lose their Medicare coverage. The release says Part D is completely voluntary, so no caller has a legitimate reason to threaten a loss of Medicare over it.
The same release says the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services never calls or visits homes to ask for personal information. Agents and brokers are also barred from claiming to be from Medicare or implying government endorsement, which means a caller who opens with “this is Medicare” is already breaking the rules.
Why open enrollment ending December 7 gives the script its pressure
Open enrollment is the one stretch of the year when millions of people expect to hear about Medicare, which makes a surprise call sound plausible. Detroit’s WDIV coverage of the warning notes that Medicare open enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7, and the scam pitch borrows that urgency.
The Iowa attorney general’s office raised the same alarm on October 15, saying callers may claim an earlier cutoff than the official one. Iowa’s office also described fake card-replacement calls that ask to “check” a Medicare number, and impostors posing as a Medicare Fraud Unit who demand a number or a payment to “clear” a file. A fake deadline, a fake agency and a request for a number tend to arrive together.
Why a hang-up and a call to 800-633-4227 settles it
Michigan’s instruction is to hang up and call 1-800-MEDICARE, which is 800-633-4227, to verify any request. The release adds that caller ID can be faked, so a number on a phone screen proves nothing about who is calling. Calling Medicare directly puts the person back in control of who is on the line.
The Social Security Administration’s inspector general gives the same advice for impostor calls in general. Its scam alert says not to trust call transfers and to hang up, then call the agency using a number from its official website. A caller who says “I’ll transfer you to Medicare” is making the very move that advice warns about.
The other warning signs Michigan lists
A Medicare number is only needed at the moment of enrolling in a plan, the state says, and plan information can be had without handing it over. DIFS Director Anita Fox said in the release that the best protection for people enrolling in Medicare is to never share any information with an unsolicited contact.
The release also flags mailings that look like government notices but come from private marketing firms, usually with small-print disclaimers. It advises taking time over coverage choices and avoiding decisions made under pressure. Real plan changes can wait a day for a verification call.
Where Michigan sends people for free help and reports
For counseling, the state points to MI Options at 800-803-7174, which offers free, unbiased help by appointment. Scams can be reported to the Michigan Senior Medicare Patrol at 844-677-6424, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Team at 517-335-7599, or DIFS at 877-999-6442 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
None of those offices will ask for a Medicare number to take a report. A person who already gave a number, a bank detail or a Social Security number to a caller is better served by reporting it quickly, because the state’s guidance is that unsolicited contacts should never get that information in the first place.
Has a Part D pressure call already come in, and are the accounts behind it locked?
A caller who knows a Medicare number, a bank login or a Social Security number does not need a Part D sale to make money. Michigan’s warning says the sales pitch is the opening, and anyone who has already answered one of these calls has no way to know whether the details given are being used elsewhere.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
