Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) provides an opportunity for seniors to step up and make an impact in the fight against fraud. The dedicated corps of SMP volunteers makes a difference.“The strongest defense against crime is not law enforcement, it is informed citizens,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, at an Administration on Aging-sponsored conference in Washington in August of 2009 during a keynote address to program volunteer coordinators and trainers.
In 2022, the SMP projects had a total of 5,365 total active team members who conducted 18,274 group outreach and education events, which refers to our presentations and events that we attend in the community.
Through those events, the SMP programs reached an estimated 1,000,240 people. In addition, the projects had 246,722 individual interactions with, or on behalf of, a Medicare beneficiary.
Those are conversations that we have with beneficiaries and others. 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 Medicare fraud, waste, and abuse.
