Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services
TOPEKA–Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) Secretary Kari Bruffett announced Wednesday that the U.S Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living has awarded the agency $245,000 each year for three years to expand and strengthen its Senior Medicare Patrol program, or SMP.
SMP is a statewide project designed to protect, detect and report Medicare and Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse. Through education, outreach, one-on-one assistance and problem resolution, Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries are educated and counseled on how to protect themselves, and how to identify and report scams and healthcare fraud or abuse.
“Kansas SMP trains volunteers who assist with educating consumers on how to avoid becoming ensnared in Medicare and Medicaid fraud through the agency’s Commission on Aging. Kansas SMP currently has more than 80 trained volunteers and we are looking for more,” Secretary Bruffett said. “This fiscal year the program has achieved an all-time high of reaching out to and educating more than 3,216 Medicare consumers in one
quarter.”
The new SMP grant funds will be used to foster statewide program coverage by expanding the volunteer base to ensure SMP counseling and assistance is available throughout Kansas.
The expansion will include a new initiative to partner with Kansas nutrition providers to provide information about Medicare fraud to customers receiving home-delivered meals, such as Meals on Wheels, and congregate meals.
Collaborating with meal providers in three service areas (Meals On Wheels of Shawnee and Jefferson Counties Inc., Aging Projects Inc., and Mid-America Nutrition Program Inc.), the agency is working toward expanding SMP into Wichita as well as much of the Western half of the state by the end of the year.
The program will also launch an initiative with Landon Center on Aging at KU Medical Center to provide training for staff and community members, which will be taped and distributed to other KU Med locations. This includes providing Medicare fraud training to medical interns.
The SMP team has scheduled a number of outreach events this summer across the state.
The KDADS website will have additional information about these events in the coming weeks.
To learn more about becoming a SMP volunteer, call (785) 296-0377 or visit the KDADS website, http://www.kdads.ks.gov/commissions/commission-on-aging/medicare-programs/kansas-senior-medicarepatrol.