Medicare question and clarification....

[whistle]

I began receiving medicare benefits in May of this year. My doctors have taken care of all the paperwork and other than having to pay for my initial deductible I have not paid for any further office visits, tests, etc.

Today I received a letter from CMS (Center for Medicare & Medicaid) which I assume is part of Medicare, but I am not sure. The letter indicates that I was automatically registered with the MyMedicare.gov website. The letter further tells me that all of my personal Medicare information is now at this single place. It says I have to use my login ID and it also lists a password.

Then it gives a nice sales pitch about all the wonderful stuff I can get on this site and concludes with: "We look forward to providing you with these exceptional services!" It says for all general questions I should call the regular Medicare 800 number. It cautions in the letter that if I don't wish to use MyMedicare.gov I should destroy this password letter. It then concludes that in the future if I wish to use the service, I will need to register. There is no other name on the letter except CMS.

Is this letter a scam? I thought Medicare was under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). If I sign onto this MyMedicare.gov do I risk turning over my medicare management to some private insurance provider like AARP? Before I go out to this site, I would like some answers.

[MannyGoldstein]

1. All Real

CMS is the parent organization of Medicare. MyMedicare.gov is real (any .gov is real - only a government organization can get a .gov site). No funny business.

[whistle]

3. Okay thanks

[shraby]

2. I wondered that myself. I pitched the letter

cause I didn't know if it was a scam or not. Too bad people can't trust anything anymore.