Scammers Target Seniors With DNA Tests, Health Agency Says

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. health officials are warning about a scam that targets senior citizens by offering them free DNA tests, adding to similar alarms from authorities in several states.

Companies offering the tests use the information gathered to steal identities or bill Medicare for unnecessary tests, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General said in an agency fraud alert. The fraudsters are targeting victims through telemarketing, booths at public events and door-to-door visits.

“If a genetic testing kit is mailed to you, don’t accept it unless it was ordered by your physician,” said Sheila Davis, a spokeswoman for the agency. “Be suspicious of anyone who offers you free genetic testing and then requests your Medicare number.”

In some cases, the perpetrators bill the government more than $13,000 per person or use the personal information collected to steal people’s identities, according to Davis. At the same time, they often provide improper testing or return impossible-to-understand results, she said. The agency is looking into multiple calls to its fraud hotline about the alleged scam.

The federal warning follows similar alerts from Nebraska and Kentucky this year. In Kentucky, Attorney General Andy Beshear’s office said that Louisville residents had reported people offering to pay Medicaid recipients $20 for DNA swabs and their health-insurance information.

The way the tests are collected, prescribed and billed probably violate federal health policy, as well as several federal and state laws, Davis said.

Fraud is a significant issue in government health-care programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which cover tens of millions of elderly and low-income Americans. Since 2007, a Medicare fraud task force has filed more than 1,600 cases against almost 3,500 defendants who are alleged to have fraudulently billed Medicare more than $13 billion, according to a 2018 report by the HHS OIG.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kristen V. Brown in San Francisco at kbrown340@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Drew Armstrong at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net, Mark Schoifet, Timothy Annett

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