When I meet with my clients for the first time and we go through my PowerPoint about Medicare and the basics, I talk about Home Health Care (HHC).

This HHC benefit is NOT Long Term Care coverage. It may sound like a Long Term Care benefit Medicare offers but Medicare does NOT cover extended care. Medicare was always intended for Acute Care. Acute Care is defined as: sick or injured, get help (urgent care or emergency room), then go home to get better. 

So HHC would be covered under Medicare if you are working with your doctor, you are homebound, and need skilled care for a short term period.

The Social Security Administration and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) have once again joined forces to raise public awareness about Social Security imposter scams during the second annual ‘Slam the Scam’ Day on March 4. Social Security scams - in which fraudsters mislead victims into making cash or gift card payments to fix purported Social Security number problems or to avoid arrest - are the #1 type of government imposter fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission and Social Security.

The agency has made concerted efforts to address this issue, including partnering with other Federal and State agencies to identify and pursue scammers, increasing employee and public outreach and education, raising awareness through marketing in post offices nationwide, and maintaining a Social Security/OIG workgroup to maximize resources and ensure a cohesive response.