Is Medicare really going to mail me this "No Bill Bill" EVERY month?

[Telly]

Very official return address on the envelope, and also says in bold caps "Important: Medicare Billing Notice Enclosed"

Inside, it says "Medicare Premium Bill", looks just like a bill, has amount due, due date, has a tear-off section to mail back with your check or money order.

But in a small box on the upper right, it says "This Is Not A Bill", and below that says "You have chosen Medicare Easy Pay. We will deduct your premium from your bank account around the 20th of each month."

It also has my Medicare number in two different places on it. Great, they finally go to a non-SS numbering system, and then plaster the new Medicare member number all over through the mail.

Should I expect to get these every month for the rest of my life? The cost of creating and mailing it, and the increased risk of the Medicare member number being misused makes it seem like a bad idea!

 

[braumeister]

Should I expect to get these every month for the rest of my life?

Only until you start receiving SS benefits, when the payment will simply be deducted from it.

 

[steelyman]

Can a Medicare number be misused in the same way as SS#? I’m not there yet so don’t know.

 

[W2R]

Can a Medicare number be misused in the same way as SS#? I’m not there yet so don’t know.

Apparently yes:

https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/medical-id-theft/

 

[Sunset]

Can someone use medicare # for free healthcare ?
Seems to me they could pretty easily.

My RANT:
I read in the news now and then about someone who steals Millions of Dollars from medicare, usually by fraudulently billing for fake things/patient treatments.

Then they get a few years in jail, seems like the cost of business. They steal from everyone, so it's like they are an enemy of the Country, we should give them the death penalty.

 

[Telly]

Should I expect to get these every month for the rest of my life?

Only until you start receiving SS benefits, when the payment will simply be deducted from it.

Oh that sounds like a bad bad idea, mailing me a "bill" touched up as a receipt, with my Medicare number on it, every month until I turn 70 and start SS!

It's amazing (or is it disheartening!) that CMMS, a giant agency that finally implemented and completed creation of non-SS numbers for it's existing and new members, can't see a new issue with what they are doing. Or isn't interested.

Since I am paying by EasyPay, they could send receipt to an email address, or just post it to my Medicare.gov account and let EasyPay users check for it, if we wanted to see it. Or failing that, they could snail mail a summary once a year, WITHOUT the member number on it, just name.

This is triggering my "DUH!" reflex, at maximum volume.

 

[MichaelB]

The monthly statement of account is the cornerstone of scrutiny and auditability for financial accounts. It is the way the account owner can review and approve all the transactions. If a payment is lost or mis-applied, the only opportunity to detect in a timely manner is the review account statement. Timeliness is critical for financial transactions. Most consumer protection regulations use the account statement as the key reporting event and date.



That said, Telly's request for an email communication makes sense.

 

[braumeister]

It turned into a running joke in my house. We had to put up with it for years, every month receiving that envelope containing a sheet of paper that proclaimed "THIS IS NOT A BILL".

At first we tried to contact them, at every level, attempting to get them to at least send it by email, but we had zero luck with that.

Just accept it that you can't run a bureaucracy without bureaucrats.

 

[timo2]

I don't get one of those 'non-bills' and I do not take social security yet. However, I did not do the easy pay, so that must be why you get those. In my fertile imagination, this probably because plenty of people forget they signed up for easy pay.

 

[CRLLS]

I for one, feel just as secure(?), maybe more so, using a mailed bill or statement as compared to an email. Anyone can take advantage of any of your accounts, be they SS or Medicare bills/statements, Bank statements, Investment statements, Amazon, Credit Card, or any number of different accounts one might have. Presumably, with a mailed bill only you or the sender will see that data. If the mail is stolen, there are federal penalties to the culprit. If emailed, there are any number of ways someone can see that info.

WRT Medicare, before receiving SS benefits, I received a bill once every 3 months for 3 months worth of premiums. After receiving SS benefits, Medicare was automatically changed to W/H from my SS monthly benefit.

 

[audreyh1]

Interesting. I do not get bills emailed to me from any credit cards or other accounts where I receive electronic statements but rather have to go online to get those. Hmmm - I’m thinking I’ll avoid easypay. Paper is OK, I suppose. I was planning to use billpay directly from my HSA account.

I think if you pay IRMAA Medicare bills you monthly rather than quarterly.

 

[Dtail]

I for one, feel just as secure(?), maybe more so, using a mailed bill or statement as compared to an email. Anyone can take advantage of any of your accounts, be they SS or Medicare bills/statements, Bank statements, Investment statements, Amazon, Credit Card, or any number of different accounts one might have. Presumably, with a mailed bill only you or the sender will see that data. If the mail is stolen, there are federal penalties to the culprit. If emailed, there are any number of ways someone can see that info.

WRT Medicare, before receiving SS benefits, I received a bill once every 3 months for 3 months worth of premiums. After receiving SS benefits, Medicare was automatically changed to W/H from my SS monthly benefit.

I don't like the autopay bill function at my bank, so typically get bills through regular mail and pay using credit cards. Alternatively, I login on the vendor website and pay by cc through their site.

 

[ivinsfan]

Your Medicare number is now different then your SS number so it doesn't have any other useful purpose.

 

[Bir48die]

This reminds me of something not far off this topic. I continually sign up for paperless billing and statements. This has resulted in me getting emails with the statement plus a mailed statement (double goodness). The worst culprit is Kaiser who sends me a paper copy three pages thick with a reminder of my premium which I already agree to having direct cc billing. Makes me continue to scratch my head with no hair on top. Maybe this is one of the reasons I became bald.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

DH is on Medicare but not yet on SS. He elected to pay quarterly via credit card, so each quarter he gets a bill, sends the pay stub back with credit card info entered, and that’s it. He enjoys getting a little cash back.

 

[audreyh1]

Your Medicare number is now different then your SS number so it doesn't have any other useful purpose.

Someone could use your Medicare number to submit fraudulent claims as mentioned in the article linked in an earlier post.

 

[SumDay]

Very official return address on the envelope, and also says in bold caps "Important: Medicare Billing Notice Enclosed"

Inside, it says "Medicare Premium Bill", looks just like a bill, has amount due, due date, has a tear-off section to mail back with your check or money order.

But in a small box on the upper right, it says "This Is Not A Bill", and below that says "You have chosen Medicare Easy Pay. We will deduct your premium from your bank account around the 20th of each month."

It also has my Medicare number in two different places on it. Great, they finally go to a non-SS numbering system, and then plaster the new Medicare member number all over through the mail.

Should I expect to get these every month for the rest of my life? The cost of creating and mailing it, and the increased risk of the Medicare member number being misused makes it seem like a bad idea!

My question exactly - what a stupid process. I'm guessing when DH gets on Social Security, the Medicare premium will be deducted from his check, and hopefully that will stop the billing, even though we've been on Auto Pay since the beginning. D.U.M.B.

 

[ivinsfan]

Someone could use your Medicare number to submit fraudulent claims as mentioned in the article linked in an earlier post.

Right but how would affect you in the long run? You don't have to pay a fraudulent claim. I know with your SS number people were worried about identity fraud.