Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging Awarded SMP National Resource Center Grant
posted 9/2/2020 in
Press Releases
Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging (NEI3A) is proud to announce being selected to receive a $4.4 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL) to continue operating the Senior Medicare Patrol National Resource Center (SMP Center).
The SMP Center provides training, technical assistance, and promotional activities in support of the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) program and 54 SMP projects nationally (visit www.smpresource.org). The SMP mission 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.
With this grant, NEI3A will continue to serve as the central source of information about the SMP program and provide educational training, materials, and tools to help SMPs nationally achieve their mission. This work is conducted with the involvement of national partners, particularly with the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) National Technical Assistance Center (www.shiptacenter.org), whose grant is also held by NEI3A, and the National Center for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment (www.ncoa.org); the SMP Center also partners with other ACL national resource centers and national partners such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on joint events and relevant tools, services, and publications. The SMP Center will also act as a clearinghouse for ACL on Medicare complex case data and referral information on emerging fraud trends. ACL continues to partner with the Office of Inspector General (www.oig.hhs.gov) to collect and report SMP performance data annually.
NEI3A has operated the SMP Center since 2003 and is a private, not-for-profit corporation serving Northeast Iowa (www.nei3a.org). NEI3A coordinates services for older individuals, caregivers, and people with disabilities to maintain the independence they desire.
(This grant is #90MPRC0002 from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C.)