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Medicare Telehealth and Genetic Test Scams: Check First

By Muhammad Imran · Reviewed for accuracy against HHS Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Federal Trade Commission guidance · Last updated November 3, 2026.

Quick answer: A free genetic test or a telehealth visit you never asked for is almost always a Medicare scam. Medicare only pays for a genetic test your own doctor orders because it is medically necessary. Hang up, keep your Medicare number private, and check your Medicare Summary Notice for charges you do not recognize.

It starts with a friendly offer: a booth at a health fair offers a free genetic test that can tell you your risk for cancer. A caller says a doctor will see you by video, at no cost. A kit arrives in the mail with a cheek swab. The offer sounds like good news. It is not. The test is the hook, and your Medicare number is the catch.

This is one of the biggest Medicare frauds running right now: the genetic test scam and telehealth fraud. The numbers show it. In a report released in January 2026, the HHS Office of Inspector General found that genetic tests made up only 5 percent of the lab tests Medicare Part B paid for in 2024, but 43 percent of Part B lab spending, about $3.6 billion. In June 2026, the Justice Department's National Health Care Fraud Takedown charged 455 defendants in schemes involving more than $6.5 billion in alleged false claims, and a year earlier the 2025 takedown charged 324 defendants in schemes involving more than $14.6 billion in intended loss.

What Medicare actually pays for, and what it never does

One rule exposes almost every version of this scam. Medicare Part B pays for a genetic test only when your own treating doctor orders it because it is medically necessary. A test offered to everyone at a health fair or through a mailed kit does not meet that test. Medicare does not pay for genetic screening of people with no symptoms, or for test kits ordered without a doctor. The one screening exception is the stool DNA test for colon cancer, covered once every three years for people 45 to 85 at average risk.

Telehealth follows the same logic. Medicare covers real telehealth visits, including office visits and mental health care, and through December 31, 2027 you can get them from anywhere in the United States. But a real telehealth visit is with your own doctor, at a time you agreed to, not a cold call from a stranger who wants your Medicare number first. Medicare will never call, text, or email you to ask for your Medicare number, your bank details, or a payment. If someone does, that alone tells you it is a scam.

Variant 1: the free genetic test or cancer screening

This is the version the HHS Office of Inspector General warned about in a fraud alert that is still live on its website. A recruiter approaches you at a health fair or by phone and offers a free genetic test or cancer screening. They may call it a DNA test or a cancer screening. They swab your cheek on the spot, or they mail you a kit. Then they ask for your Medicare number, "so Medicare can pay for it."

Here is what happens next. A doctor you have never met signs an order for the test, and a lab bills Medicare, sometimes thousands of dollars for a single test. You may never see results, and they would mean little anyway, because no doctor who knows you ordered the test. In September 2019, the Justice Department charged 35 people in genetic testing schemes involving $2.1 billion in alleged losses. In the 2026 takedown, the FBI added two fugitives wanted in genetic testing fraud schemes, one for $547 million and one for $90 million, to its Most Wanted Fraudsters list.

Variant 2: telehealth fraud, the fake visit and the brace order

The second variant is telehealth fraud: it uses a video call instead of a cheek swab. A telemarketer calls and says a doctor will see you by video, for free. The "doctor" appears on screen and asks almost nothing about your health. Then braces arrive in the mail, or a blood sugar monitor, or equipment you never asked for. The orders were signed by a doctor who never examined you, and the equipment company bills Medicare for each item.

Two court cases from October 2026 show how big this gets. Christopher Harwood, owner of a telemedicine company called TelevisitMD, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for leading a $46.2 million Medicare fraud conspiracy that ran for more than six years. The Justice Department said he used aggressive telemarketing to push Medicare patients to accept braces and genetic tests they did not need. Medicare paid $17.9 million on those claims, and the court ordered $17,942,402 in restitution. Two weeks earlier, Brett Blackman, owner of HealthSplash, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for running an internet platform that generated false doctors' orders for medical equipment. Suppliers and pharmacies billed Medicare and other insurers more than $1 billion and were paid more than $450 million. Medicare was billed for braces for more than 346,000 beneficiaries, an average of four each, and more than 1,200 people were billed for at least 21 braces each.

The Justice Department and the HHS Office of Inspector General warned about this pattern years ago. In July 2022, the OIG issued a Special Fraud Alert listing the warning signs: patients recruited by telemarketers or health fairs; a doctor with too little contact to judge whether the item is needed; a doctor paid by how many orders they sign; a company that offers only one product; and no follow-up care. If the "telehealth visit" you were offered matches that list, it is not health care.

How the billing works, and why your number is the target

Your Medicare number is the key to the whole scheme. With it, a lab or a supplier can bill Medicare in your name, and Medicare pays the claim before anyone checks whether you needed the test or ever received the brace. That is why the offer is always free to you.

The bill can also land on you. The HHS Office of Inspector General warns that if Medicare denies the claim, you could be responsible for the entire cost, which could be thousands of dollars. A genetic test scam is not free if Medicare refuses to pay and the lab sends you the bill. The OIG warns that unneeded braces billed in your name may lead Medicare to deny a brace you truly need later.

And your number can be used more than once. The OIG warns that compromised personal information may be used in other fraud schemes. A Medicare number collected for a fake test can be billed again for things you never had, or sold on for identity theft. Protect the number first.

Red flags

  • A genetic test scam starts with a free test, cancer screening, or cheek swab offered by a stranger. At a health fair, by phone, by mail, or at your door. Your own doctor does not recruit patients at a fair.
  • A telehealth scam: a visit you never booked, with a doctor you never met. A real visit is scheduled by you.
  • They ask for your Medicare number first, before any care or explanation.
  • The doctor signs the order without examining you. A five-second video call or a phone call with no exam is not a medical visit.
  • Only one product is on offer: braces, genetic tests, or glucose monitors, and nothing else. A real doctor treats your problem, not a catalog.
  • Pressure and secrecy. "This offer ends today," or "Do not tell your family." A real medical offer can wait.
  • Equipment or a test kit arrives that you never ordered, like braces in the mail or a swab kit on your porch.
  • The caller claims to be from Medicare. Medicare does not call to offer tests or confirm your number.

Check your Medicare Summary Notice in 5 minutes

If you have Original Medicare, your Medicare Summary Notice, or MSN, is the paper trail that catches this fraud. It arrives in the mail every three months when you had services in that period, and it is not a bill. It lists everything billed to Medicare in your name. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you get an Explanation of Benefits instead, and the same checks apply.

  1. Get your latest notice. Find the most recent MSN in your mail, or sign in to your Medicare.gov account. If you cannot find one, call 1-800-MEDICARE at 1-800-633-4227.
  2. Read the service lines, not just the total. Look at each line and circle anything you do not recognize.
  3. Look for these words: genetic test, DNA test, laboratory, brace, orthotic, glucose monitor, telehealth, or telemedicine. If you never had one, a line with those words is a red flag.
  4. Check the provider names. Do you know the lab, the equipment company, or the doctor on the line? A name you have never heard of is a red flag.
  5. Check the dates and the "Maximum You May Be Billed" column. Was there a charge on a day you had no appointment, or while you were away? That column is the most you could owe for each item. If a denied test shows a large amount there, do not pay it yet. Dispute it first.
  6. Write down what you find: the date of service, the provider name, and the amount for anything suspicious. Keep the notice. You will need these details when you report it.

If anything does not match, report it using the steps below.

What to do if you already gave your number or took the test

Do not panic, and do not wait.

  1. Call 1-800-MEDICARE at 1-800-633-4227. Tell them you gave your Medicare number to someone offering a free test, or that you took a test you now think was a scam. Ask them to check for claims in your name.
  2. Check your Medicare Summary Notice using the 5-minute check above, and write down anything suspicious.
  3. Call the Senior Medicare Patrol at 1-877-808-2468. Your local SMP will help you read your statements and report what was billed, for free.
  4. Report it to the HHS Office of Inspector General at 1-800-447-8477 (1-800-HHS-TIPS), or online at oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud.
  5. If you shared more than your Medicare number, protect your identity. If you gave your Social Security number or bank details, place a free credit freeze at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, and read our identity theft recovery guide.
  6. Do not pay a bill for a test or brace you never ordered. Call 1-800-MEDICARE first and dispute it. Keep the bill and every letter about it.
  7. Refuse any kit or equipment that arrives. If a test kit comes in the mail that you did not order, do not use it. Refuse the delivery or return it to the sender. If braces arrive that you did not order, do not wear them.
  8. Watch for the second call: someone may offer to get your money back or fix your Medicare record, for a fee. That is a recovery scam.

How to report Medicare telehealth or genetic testing fraud

Report it even if you lost no money.

  • Medicare: 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). The first call if you shared your number or see a strange charge.
  • Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP): 1-877-808-2468 or smpresource.org. Free local help with your statements and reporting fraud.
  • HHS Office of Inspector General: 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477), or oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud.
  • Federal Trade Commission: ReportFraud.ftc.gov, for the call, text, or website.
  • Your state SHIP office: 1-877-839-2675 or shiphelp.org. Free Medicare counseling in every state.
  • If you are 60 or older: the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311 and the free AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3360.

Why the calls spike right now

These offers get worse at certain times of year, and right now is one of them: Medicare Open Enrollment for 2027 coverage runs from October 15 through December 7, 2026. During that window, a call about Medicare feels normal, and scammers take advantage. The Federal Trade Commission warned on September 28, 2026 that health insurance scams pick up during Open Enrollment, and that scammers pay to appear at the top of search results with official-looking logos.

Our guide to Medicare open enrollment scams lists the five red flags to watch for, and our guide to the new Medicare card explains what a real card looks like and how it arrives.

Prevention checklist

  • Never give your Medicare number to a stranger. Only your doctor's office, hospital, pharmacy, and plan should have it.
  • Never accept a free test, screening, or brace from a caller, a fair booth, or a mailed kit.
  • Hang up on unsolicited Medicare calls. Medicare does not call you. If you are worried, call 1-800-MEDICARE yourself.
  • Refuse equipment and kits you did not order, and keep a record of the sender.
  • Check your Medicare Summary Notice every time it arrives. Five minutes every three months catches most of this fraud.
  • Search before you trust. If a name, number, or website looks official, type the address yourself. Do not tap a link or a number from a text, an email, or a search ad.
  • Agree on the family rule now: if anyone offers a free medical test or a telehealth visit by phone, the answer is no.

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Frequently asked questions

My own doctor mentioned a genetic test. Is that a scam?

No, not if it is your own doctor. A genetic test your treating doctor orders because it is medically necessary is real care. The scam is a test offered by a stranger or a booth at a health fair, with an order signed by a doctor you have never met. If your own doctor brings it up, ask them to explain why you need it.

I already swabbed my cheek or gave my Medicare number. What do I do now?

Call 1-800-MEDICARE at 1-800-633-4227 and tell them what happened, then check your Medicare Summary Notice for charges you do not recognize. Report it to the Senior Medicare Patrol at 1-877-808-2468 and to the HHS Office of Inspector General at 1-800-447-8477. If you shared your Social Security number or bank details too, place a free credit freeze and read our identity theft recovery guide.

A test kit arrived in the mail that I never ordered. What do I do?

Do not use it. The HHS Office of Inspector General says to refuse the delivery or return it to the sender, and to keep a record of the sender's name and the date you returned it. Do not swab your cheek and do not mail it back. Then call 1-800-MEDICARE at 1-800-633-4227.

The doctor on the video call wore a white coat and had diplomas on the wall. How could that be fake?

A white coat and diplomas on a video call prove nothing. Scammers use staged rooms and even AI-made video to look like real doctors. In the TelevisitMD case, the Justice Department said doctors signed orders without a real visit with the patient. A real doctor is someone you chose, who knows your history and follows up with you. A stranger on a screen who only wants your Medicare number is not your doctor.

Medicare denied a test I never asked for, and now I got a bill. Do I have to pay it?

Do not pay it yet. The HHS Office of Inspector General warns that if Medicare denies a genetic test claim, you could be responsible for the entire cost, which could be thousands of dollars. Call 1-800-MEDICARE at 1-800-633-4227, explain that you never ordered the test, and ask how to dispute the charge. Report it to the Senior Medicare Patrol at 1-877-808-2468. Keep the bill and every letter about it.

Where do I report Medicare telehealth or genetic testing fraud?

Start with 1-800-MEDICARE at 1-800-633-4227. You can also report it to the Senior Medicare Patrol at 1-877-808-2468 and to the HHS Office of Inspector General Hotline at 1-800-447-8477. If the offer came by text or online, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Report it even if you lost no money.

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Sources: HHS Office of Inspector General, Fraud Alert: Genetic Testing Scam (September 27, 2019) and Total Medicare Part B Spending on Lab Tests Rose in 2024 (OEI-09-25-00330, January 28, 2026); HHS Office of Inspector General, Special Fraud Alert on arrangements with purported telemedicine companies (July 20, 2022), at oig.hhs.gov/compliance/alerts; U.S. Department of Justice, 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown (June 23, 2026) and 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown (June 30, 2025); U.S. Department of Justice, HealthSplash owner sentenced to 19 years for $1B Medicare fraud (October 15, 2026); HHS Office of Inspector General, TelevisitMD owner sentenced to 20 years for $46M Medicare fraud (October 23, 2026); Federal Trade Commission, What to know ahead of Open Enrollment to avoid health insurance scams (September 28, 2026); Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Telehealth at Medicare.gov; Senior Medicare Patrol, Genetic Testing Fraud. Last updated November 3, 2026.