Senior Medicare Patrols

Senior Medicare Patrols (SMP) empower and assist Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers to prevent, detect, and report health care fraud, errors, and abuse through outreach, counseling, and education.

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SMP are grant-funded projects of the federal U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL).

 

They work in three main areas:

1. Conduct Outreach and Education by giving presentations to groups, exhibiting at events and working one-on-one with Medicare beneficiaries.

2. Engage Volunteers who work to protect older persons’ health, finances, and medical identity while saving Medicare dollars is a cause that attracts civic-minded Americans. The SMP program engages volunteers within the six counties of central and midcoast Maine to prevent, detect and report health care fraud, errors and abuse.

3. Receive Beneficiary Complaints. When Medicare beneficiaries, caregivers, and family members bring forward their complaints, SMP makes a determination about whether or not fraud, errors, or abuse is suspected. When fraud or abuse are suspected, they make referrals to the appropriate state and federal agencies for further investigation.