About the Senior Medicare Patrol Program
SMP projects recruit and train retired professionals and other senior citizens. These volunteers work in their communities, senior centers, and elsewhere to educate Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, family members, and caregivers to actively protect themselves against fraudulent, wasteful, and abusive health care practices.
The SMP program provides an opportunity for seniors to step up and make a real difference in the fight against fraud. In 2009, SMP projects:
- Engaged 4,444 active volunteers in educating Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries about how to protect against, detect, and report health care fraud, errors, and abuse
- Conducted 7,177 group education sessions with Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries
- Held 33,855 one-on-one counseling sessions
- Referred for further investigation more than 966 beneficiary complaints of potential fraud, error, or abuse involving $3.762 million in health care funds
(Source: May 2010 OIG Performance Report)
According to the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA), since 1997 community education events have reached more than 18 million people. As a result, almost 2.9 million beneficiaries have been educated, more than 68,000 volunteers were trained, and nearly 87,000 complaints have been received. During the same period, SMPs documented more than $105.9 million in savings, including Medicare and Medicaid funds recovered, beneficiary savings, and other savings that resulted from SMPs handling of beneficiary complaints.