Senior Medicare Patrol
(formerly Operation Restore Trust of Iowa)
Each year about $1 out of every $10 spent on Medicare and Medicaid is lost through simple mistakes, abuse and, sometimes, even fraud. It’s a lot of money.
In Iowa, we are fortunate that most health care providers are honest and are trying to provide you with quality care under a complex system. However, mistakes do happen and if they go uncorrected, it costs Medicare and Medicaid money. We also must be aware that abuse and even fraud can happen anywhere and we must all be willing to be smarter consumers and report those that would provide unnecessary services and bill for services not provided.
The 1995 White House Conference on Aging created Operation Restore Trust, a long-term Medicare/Medicaid effort to work on the problem. To better identify program needs, in 2007, the Operation Restore Trust program was re-named nationally as the Senior Medicaid Patrol (SMP) program. In Iowa, the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs’ Senior Medicare Patrol program continues to recruit and train retired individuals through the Area Agencies on Aging to identify waste, abuse, and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid. Information and individual assistance is available throughout Iowa.
What can you do? Learn all you can about how Medicare and Medicaid work for you. Pay attention to your Medicare Summary Notice so that you know what Medicare is paying on your behalf. If you have questions, call your health care provider or insurance company. Ask them to explain or clarify unusual Medicare charges. At any point, you can call the Senior Medicare Patrol program to assist you.
If you have concerns or questions, call Nancy Anderson, Senior Medicare Patrol Coordinator at
(515) 255-6142 x 312, or go to www.StopMedicareScams.org
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