government
Senior Medicare Patrol receives $9 million in grants
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 5, 2011
A fraud detection force consisting of Medicare patients received $9 million in grants to continue its work, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced on Nov. 22.
The Senior Medicare Patrol educates patients on how to recognize health care fraud and report it to authorities. Patient volunteers work with other Medicare beneficiaries and caregivers to identify waste in the program by learning how to read remittances and explanation of benefits statements. More than 4 million beneficiaries have received such training since 1997, CMS said.
The Medicare agency and the Administration on Aging awarded 52 groups with up to $400,000 to continue outreach initiatives. States with high rates of fraud received additional funding for targeted anti-fraud campaigns.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/12/05/gvbf1205.htm.