This is our monthly filter: a short, calm summary of what actually happened in Medicare over the past month, drawn from public sources you can check yourself, with a link to each one. This month's theme is impersonation — fake suppliers, fake websites, and fake offers dressed up as Social Security — plus a short calendar note for October. Nothing here is a reason to change your coverage; it's simply worth knowing.
Medicare cut off suppliers that billed for people who had died
On September 8, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced it is barring 11 medical-equipment suppliers from receiving Medicare Advantage and Part D payments, citing more than 3.4 billion dollars in suspected fraudulent billing in 2025 and 2026. According to CMS, the companies billed for beneficiaries who had already died and supplied — or claimed to supply — equipment that patients never requested or received.
Florida features twice in the release. One Florida-based supplier submitted roughly 18.4 million dollars in catheter claims over just two days last December, covering more than 1,200 beneficiaries; CMS says it suspended those payments before they went out. Another Florida company is suspected of a telemarketing scheme in which people were billed for braces they say they never received. The takeaway for you: if a box of medical supplies arrives that your own doctor didn't order, or a Medicare Summary Notice lists equipment you don't recognize, call 1-800-MEDICARE. That one phone call is how many of these schemes get noticed.
That top search result may not be Medicare
On September 28, the Federal Trade Commission published a consumer alert about a problem that picks up every fall: scammers and dishonest businesses pay to appear at the top of search results, using look-alike web addresses and official-looking logos to pass themselves off as government health sites. The Senior Medicare Patrol shared the same warning the same day. The advice is practical: type the address of the site you want yourself rather than clicking an ad, notice when a result is labeled "Ad" or "Sponsored," and check that a government site's address actually ends in .gov. A site that ends in anything else is not the government — and a stranger's website has no business asking for your Medicare number.
Nobody can "boost" your Social Security for a fee
The Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General issued a scam alert on September 21 about calls, ads, letters, texts, and social-media messages promising to "boost," "unlock," or "maximize" your Social Security benefits in exchange for an upfront fee. The alert is plain about why this can't be real: benefit amounts are calculated by law from your earnings record, they are not negotiated over the phone, and Social Security never calls offering a higher benefit in exchange for payment or personal information. Because many people have their Medicare Part B premium taken out of their Social Security payment, it's easy for a scammer to blur the two in a single pitch. If you have a question about your benefit, hang up and call Social Security directly at 1-800-772-1213.
October on the calendar
Two dates are worth knowing this month. First, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release September's consumer price figures on October 14 — the inflation data Social Security uses to set next year's cost-of-living adjustment. Until Social Security announces that number, any percentage you see is an estimate. Second, the Annual Enrollment Period opens October 15 and runs through December 7, as it does every year, with any changes taking effect January 1. You don't need to do anything before then. If your plan's Annual Notice of Change arrived in September, setting it aside with a current list of your doctors and medications is plenty of preparation.
The bottom line
This month's stories share one lesson: the person, package, or website that reaches you first is the one to double-check. Get supplies only through your own doctor, type government web addresses yourself, and treat any offer to raise your benefits for a fee as the scam it is. Then let the calendar — not a phone call or an ad — set the pace for your fall review.
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