Reply #46: Medicare's branding as a US Government program is pathetically weak

[FarCenter]

I've just reviewed correspondence with Medicare.

The most frequent communication is the "Medicare Summary Notice". This is identified as coming from CMS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. There is no mention of either the US Government or Health and Human Services. The Medicare Summary notice explains how they processed your care giver's claim. It does say that if you have a change of address, contact Social Security and an 800 number.

I think that the CMSs are not government operations, but are instead outsourced to private companies, some of which may be insurance companies with claims processing expertise and systems. To dispute how they processed a claim, mine says to contact Highmark Medicare Services.

Other pieces of correspondence do mention the United States Government and/or the Health and Human Service. For example, one piece says "This information is being collected under contract with the United States Department of Health and Human Services ...".

All Medicare, Medicaid and Social Services correpondence should be identified clearly with the US government by use of prominent logos and text. Otherwise, why would people know?

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http://www.highmarkmedicareservices.com/index.html
Highmark Medicare Services is the Part A Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) for Delaware (DE), New Jersey (NJ), Pennsylvania (PA), Maryland (MD) and the District of Columbia (DC), and the Part B MAC for Pennsylvania (PA), New Jersey (NJ), Maryland (MD), Delaware (DE) and the District of Columbia Metropolitan Area (DCMA). For Part B services, A/B MAC Jurisdiction 12 includes the Counties of Arlington and Fairfax in Virginia and the City of Alexandria in Virginia. Services for the remainder of the state of Virginia will be covered under A/B MAC Jurisdiction 11. Learn more about us.

They are the Blue Cross Blue Shield company for much of Pennsylvania
https://www.highmark.com/hmk2/about/corpprofile/index.shtml