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| Consumer Protection |
 Consumer Protection DivisionThe Consumer Protection Division helps seniors avoid becoming victims of scams and fraud. It houses departments to help Iowans protect their medical and financial information and contains a national resource center that strives to educate every older American on how to protect, detect and report health care fraud and abuse. Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) at Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging is part of a nationwide, grassroots education and assistance program working to empower seniors and caregivers to protect personal information and Medicare benefits by learning to detect mistakes or potential fraud in Medicare payments. You can report suspected problems to SMP. Our staff and trained volunteers work to correct errors and report abuse of the Medicare system to government authorities. Read more about how this program can help you. For information on volunteering for SMP, click here. National Consumer Protection Technical Resource Center (SMP Resource Center) Created in September 2003 with funding from the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA), the SMP Resource Center provides key services to AoA’s 54 SMP programs located throughout the country including the District of Columbia, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. It serves as a central source of information, expertise and technical assistance for SMP projects and is a project of Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging. The Center promotes the sharing of knowledge and best practices for both the novice and experienced SMPs, provides on-going support and information on issues and trends in health care fraud, waste and abuse, and develops new products and tools for the national SMP network. For more information, go to www.smpresource.org or call 1-877-808-2468. |
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