Each June, the FBI and our partners mark Medicare Fraud Prevention Week to raise awareness about health care fraud targeting older Americans and their Medicare insurance.

Health care fraud is not a victimless crime. It affects everyone—individuals and businesses alike—and causes tens of billions of dollars in losses each year.

When bad actors engage in Medicare fraud, they intentionally cheat the health care system to get illegal benefits or payments. These scammers —who can include doctors, patients, and others — leave innocent Americans to pay the price, in the form of higher taxes and insurance premiums.

The FBI is the primary agency for investigating health care fraud, for both federal and private insurance programs. We work with government and insurance-industry partners to investigate frauds that impact both Medicare and private insurance programs.

You can follow these tips to avoid falling victim to health care fraud:

• Protect your health insurance information. Treat it like a credit card. Don't give it to others to use, and be mindful when using it at the doctor’s office or pharmacy.
• Beware of “free” services. If you're asked to provide your health insurance information for a “free” service, the service is probably not free and could be fraudulently charged to your insurance company.
• Check your explanation of benefits (EOB) regularly. Make sure the dates, locations, and services billed match what you actually received. If there’s a concern, contact your health insurance provider.

You can report suspected health care fraud to us by visiting tips.fbi.gov. You can also report it to your health insurance provider directly.

FBI Philadelphia can be reached at (215) 418-4000.

Visit fbi.gov/healthcarefraud to learn about the different forms this crime can take and red flags to avoid.