Medicare abuse includes practices that result in unnecessary costs to the Medicare program. Any activity that does not meet professionally recognized standards or provide patients with medically necessary services is considered abuse. Committing abuse is illegal and should be reported.

Common types of abuse include:

• Billing for unnecessary services (services that are not medically necessary)
• Overcharging for services or supplies
• Misusing billing codes to increase reimbursement

To report abuse, contact 1-800-MEDICARE (633-4227), the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) Resource Center (877-808-2468), or the Inspector General’s fraud hotline at 1-800-HHS-TIPS (447-8477). Medicare will not use your name while investigating if you do not want it to.