The mission of the Administration for Community Living (ACL) Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) program is to 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, the

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SMP program increases awareness and understanding of health care programs to protect Medicare beneficiaries from the economic and health-related consequences associated with Medicare fraud, errors, and abuse.

ACL currently provides grant funding to support 54 SMP state projects, including grantees in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands.

The SMP projects use this funding to provide local outreach, education, and assistance to Medicare beneficiaries through a trained workforce, many of which are volunteers.

SMP projects teach Medicare beneficiaries to protect their Medicare numbers, to detect billing discrepancies on their Medicare statements, and to report suspicious activity for further investigation.

In addition, SMP projects actively disseminate fraud prevention and identification information through the media, outreach campaigns, and community events.

As a result of these efforts, beneficiaries contact the SMP projects with inquiries and complaints regarding potential Medicare fraud, errors, and abuse.

SMPs provide in-depth counseling and assistance to help beneficiaries who present with questions and issues.

With this funding opportunity, ACL anticipates awarding up to 1 cooperative agreement to support SMP projects in Vermont.