Medicare Fraud And Decreasing Overdose Death Rates On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, during the COVID-19 pandemic, from 2019 to 2022, the state’s overdose death rate increased by 67 percent. But it may be returning to where we were before that. Emily Rice has the story.

Also, in this show, Medicare is a lifeline for many seniors, but scammers and even medical providers can attempt to get Medicare numbers and defraud the program. June 5-9 is Medicare Fraud Awareness Week, and West Virginia Senior Services is out to draw attention to the problem.

For his series “Getting Into Their Reality: Caring For Aging Parents,” News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Senior Services Medicare Programs State Director Rebecca Gouty to get a better understanding of the problem and what to do if you feel you have been scammed.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced this episode.

Teresa Wills is our host.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning