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Medicare Hotline Reported to Have High Error Rate(especially for low-income callers)
According to a report issued by the non-partisan General Accounting Office, serious problems exist at the 1-800-MEDICARE hotline. This hotline was established to help answer beneficiaries' questions about Medicare.
GAO’s investigation–which was mandated by the Medicare law– involved placing 420 calls to the hotline, asking questions related to the drug card program, supplemental Medigap policies and coverage issues. · According to GAO, callers received inaccurate answers about 29 percent of the time. · Regarding the low-income subsidy, operators answered incorrectly 55 times out of 70.
In addition, GAO investigators found that they were unable to obtain any answers to questions 10 percent of the time because they were transferred to other Medicare contractors that were closed, or because calls were inadvertently disconnected. |
