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Yesterday Senate Unanimously Passed Older Americans Act- Includes Casey Provision, Senior Medicare Patrol Program, to Empower Seniors to Identify and Report Fraud / Senior Medicare Patrol Program Trains Senior Volunteers to Prevent and Identify Healthcare Fraud and Abuse / Unanimous Senate Passage Puts Casey Anti-Fraud Measure on Steady Path to Become Law

Washington, D.C.- Today, U.S Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) announced that the U.S. Senate has passed his measure to combat Medicare fraud that has previously resulted in $120 million in government savings. Yesterday, the Senate passed a reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA) that included a Casey provision to empower seniors to identify and report fraud.  The program, the Senior Medicare Patrol program, began in 1996 and has resulted in $120 million in savings to Medicare. Casey’s effort ensures that this anti-fraud program, which trains senior volunteers to prevent and identify Medicare fraud, will continue to as part of the Older Americans Act.

“This is a highly effective program that empowers seniors to spot and stop Medicare fraud,” Senator Casey said. “When we have a program that we know is working and actually saves the government money we ought to reauthorize it without delay. The Senate’s passage of the Older Americans Act was a substantial step in the right director for our Nation’s seniors. It’s time for the House to pass this legislation and send it to the President’s desk.

Due to the Senior Medicare Patrol program between its inception in 1997 and 2013:

  • 29,031,244 Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries have been reached through community education programs;
  • a total of 72 SMP projects have educated Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in 123,749 group sessions and 1,440,882 individual sessions;
  • 2,283,251 media airings have occurred and 183,808 community outreach education events have been conducted;
  • savings to and costs avoided by Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs, and beneficiaries, total over $121,000,000; and

                                                over 41,000 volunteers have been active in educating Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries

According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Congress passed the Older Americans Act (OAA) in 1965 in response to concern by policymakers about a lack of community social services for older persons. The original legislation established authority for grants to States for community planning and social services, research and development projects, and personnel training in the field of aging. The law also established the Administration on Aging (AoA) to administer the newly created grant programs and to serve as the Federal focal point on matters concerning older persons.

Although older individuals may receive services under many other Federal programs, today the OAA is considered to be the major vehicle for the organization and delivery of social and nutrition services to this group and their caregivers. It authorizes a wide array of service programs through a national network of 56 State agencies on aging, 629 area agencies on aging, nearly 20,000 service providers, 244 Tribal organizations, and 2 Native Hawaiian organizations representing 400 Tribes. The OAA also includes community service employment for low-income older Americans; training, research, and demonstration activities in the field of aging; and vulnerable elder rights protection activities. The links below offer an unofficial compilation of the OAA, an outline of changes made to the OAA at the most recent reauthorization (2006), a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the OAA and other related sources of information/data.

Please select from the topics below to learn more:

 

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Related Issues

  1. Health Care
  2. Seniors
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