ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A Rochester couple received a letter in the mail advertising Medicare eligibility for their pit bull who died two years ago.

The letter was addressed to April Mae, misspelling the dog’s name as “April May.” News10NBC’s Erin Mahon spoke with Alan and Janice Smith about the mix-up.

“It was an unusual letter. Yeah well, it was funny. It was. We kind of laughed about it. We did,” the Smiths said.

The Smiths are used to spam calls. Janice writes every number down, electing to call them back and speak her mind on occasion. But when the letter came asking if their late pit bull April Mae knew about her eligibility for Medicare, they had to laugh.

April Mae died from cancer two years ago. 

“I’d really like to know how they got a hold of April’s name and where it came from. Because, yeah, she really could have used that health insurance,” Janice said.

The Smiths think maybe their Chewy subscription or pet medication information led to the mix-up. They posted the letter to Facebook right away to warn others in case it was a scam.

“Just because I’m a senior citizen doesn’t mean I don’t read the paper and listen to the news and know that there are scammers out there and everything,” Janice said.

“We try to be diligent and proactive, and you know we saw this stupid little thing. We knew it wasn’t anything,” Alan said. “But we put it out there, you know beware — beware this sort of stuff happens,” Janice continued. 

When Mahon called the number listed, an automated voice asked if she had Medicare Plan A or B before directing her to a real person who worked for Select Quote. Select Quote is a third-party agency that shops different policies for clients.

But Medicare fraud is highly common, and Lifespan says you should only respond to communications directly from 1-800-MEDICARE or your specific insurer.

The Smiths already have Medicare. So, they recycled the letter and moved on with their day with their current dog, Daisy Mae.

Lifespan says the risk of Medicare fraud is especially high during open enrollment, which starts on Oct. 15 and lasts through December. The safest way to explore Medicare options, it says, is directly through Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). There’s also free assistance available through the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) and the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP).

This link will take you to AAA’s website to locate your local office: Eldercare Locator

This link takes you to New York’s SHIP page: New York

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