Senior Medicare Patrol
Empowering seniors to prevent healthcare fraud
Each year, $60-90 billion is lost to Medicare errors fraud and abuse. All beneficiaries are potential victims of healthcare fraud and scams. Unscrupulous individuals are always looking for ways to take advantage of others.
Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) empowers and assists Medicare beneficiaries, their families and caregivers to prevent, detect and report health care fraud, errors and abuse as part of a national network of volunteer and community outreach efforts dedicated to empowering seniors to prevent healthcare fraud.
SMP staff and volunteers make presentations to groups, exhibit at community health fairs, serve as advocates to local, state and federal officials and help individuals review their Medicare Summary Notices.
SMP’s primary goals are to:
- Teach Medicare beneficiaries how to protect their personal identity.
- Recognize and report errors on healthcare bills.
- Identify deceptive healthcare practices.
Common Healthcare Scams that Affect Beneficiaries:
Services Not Provided
Beneficiaries are billed for services never received or healthcare providers change billing codes or submit fake claims.
Medical Equipment Fraud
Equipment manufacturers may offer “free” products or waive required co-payments or deductibles in exchange for a Medicare number.
Free Health Screenings
A vendor offers to provide “free” healthcare screenings, lab tests or other services but asks for a person’s Medicare number.
Insurance Bait & Switch or Cross-Selling
Licensed agents present information about a Medicare Advantage plan, describing benefits and services that the plan doesn’t actually offer, and then sign people up for a plan that isn’t right for them.
Counterfeit Prescription Drugs
Beneficiaries purchase medication over the internet to save money, but the drugs they receive are not the right medication or the right dosage.
Medical Identity Theft
This occurs when someone uses another person’s Social Security number or Medicare number, date of birth, credit card number or other personal information, which may have been obtained by asking for it at an event or over the phone, or stealing information from a wallet or the trash.
Call 1-800-AGE-LINE (1-800-243-5463) to learn more about Senior Medicare Patrol or click here for more information on the national SMP program.
The SMP Medicare Tracker mobile app allows users to prevent, detect, and report Medicare fraud, errors and abuse at their fingertips!
Track your Health care to help prevent errors, fraud and abuse. Learn about Fraud schemes and report potential fraud to the Senior Medicare Patrol.
