Senior Medicare Patrol Integration Grants

The summary for the Senior Medicare Patrol Integration Grants grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Administration on Aging, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Senior Medicare Patrol Integration Grants: Since 1997 the Senior Medicare Patrol Projects have been AoA's primary vehicle to conduct health care fraud control outreach and education for Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries. Retired professionals are recruited as volunteers to conduct community based training activities designed to increase awareness of vulnerable older consumers. As a result, consumers are empowered to protect themselves and take action to report suspicious activities, thereby decreasing costly billing errors, fraud and avoiding unnecessary medical interventions. Integration Grants were first awarded to 14 existing SMP projects in FY 2004 for a two- year period, to develop new partnerships or "cutting edge" approaches to improve Medicare/Medicaid beneficiary education. AoA identified three priority areas for collaboration and program integration, including: Medicaid fraud, home health care fraud, and fraud related to new benefits of the Medicare Modernization Act. Under this competition, AoA will further strengthen the SMP program through the integration of SMP program materials, outreach, and message to: 1) reach targeted populations, and 2) address targeted areas of health care fraud, error or abuse. Eligibility for application is defined for each of these two integration areas in Section III.1. Up to fourteen cooperative agreements will be funded at a federal share of up to $100,000 per year and a project period of up to two years, contingent upon the availability of federal funds. The award is a cooperative agreement because the Administration on Aging will be substantially involved in the development and execution of the activities of the projects and will describe the technical assistance, support, and training to be provided to the projects. The cooperative agreements will provide expectations for: project activities, development and dissemination of models, and evaluation of the project; as well as detail assistance and support to be provided by AoA and the National Consumer Protection Technical Resource Center (the Center). Applicants are required to cover at least 25% of the total program costs with non-Federal resources. The full text of the announcement includes a description of the priority areas and all the instructions necessary to prepare and submit a grant proposal to compete for the Integration Grant awards.