Survey underway for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Havre Daily News staff

Local agencies on aging have announced that the non-partisan and objective research organization NORC at the University of Chicago will be calling people to conduct a study for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The national study, called the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, or MCBS, is designed to provide information on the health care experiences of Medicare eligible persons across America.

A release said NORC collects urgently needed information about:

• The health problems of people on Medicare,

• The types of medical care they receive, and

• The cost and affordability of the care and medicine they need.

The agencies have stressed that the callers will not ask for confidential information or Medicare numbers, and people should never give out that information.

NORC said in a release that the safety and privacy of the people called is its greatest priority. NORC said that, normally, the interviewers would visit in-person to conduct the interview. However, due to the coronavirus outbreak, the interviewers will contact selected beneficiaries by phone to explain the study and conduct the interview.

People have repeatedly been warned of scams by callers representing themselves as agents of organizations or governmental agencies and asking for personal information or even making threats of actions if the victim does not provide the information or agree to make payments or send money. People should never give out their personal information or agree to make payments when called by these scammers.