At Texas Senior Medicare Patrol, program director Barbara McGinity regularly hears troubling stories from elderly victims targeted by medical scams.
There was the 90-year-old San Antonio woman who wanted to buy a bedside commode and called a company advertising such items in a senior directory. Someone representing the business arrived at her house to sign her up for hospice services — care that is reserved for terminally ill patients expected to die within six months — though she did not have a life-threatening illness, McGinity said.
The company brought the woman the commode she requested, along with other items she did not need, such as a shower bench and a bedside table. A nurse continued making impromptu visits to her home several times a week to check her blood pressure, temperature, pulse and respiration.