Over the course of the last four months, we have featured interviews from former directors, volunteers, partners and more celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Illinois Senior Medicare Patrol. We only have two more Fraud Alert's left in 2020 which will feature the oral history of how the SMP program in Illinois was started, what it has currently grown into and what the future holds for the next 25 years!
Last month we got to speak with Bill Benson, former Acting Assistant Secretary for Aging under the Clinton Administration, Jon Lavin, former CEO of AgeOptions to discuss where they think SMP Program is headed in the future. Please enjoy Part 2 of our 3 part interview series with Bill Benson and Jon Lavin below.
If you missed an
Oral History of the Illinois Senior Medicare Patrol: Part 1, please
click here to read it.
Marina Silva/Travis Trumitch:
Why is the SMP Program so important?
Jon Lavin:
The loss of resources to Medicare fraud is just shocking – even in just Illinois. We have to think about why would we give money to wasteful individuals instead of turning those dollars into powerful resources.
This is why the SMP message to prevent, detect, and report is so powerful. We also have to get people behind Medicare (CMS) and really get them to understand the great benefits of the program and being able to change and invest in healthcare. Healthcare is for all people and people need to realize what they have access to.
Marina Silva/Travis Trumitch:
What do you see as the future of the SMP Program?
Bill Benson:
We need to broaden the past educational role. Education equals prevention. The preventative part is critical and we need to do a better job. Our model is to speak to groups of older adults on preventative measures, this is a good approach but we need to find more effective ways outside of presentations. How can we reach MILLIONS? We can go out every day of the year, and we will not even get close to the millions that we should be reaching. We have to start recruiting ‘tech-wizs’ and have them dive deeper to find that issue that continues to drive scammers' fraudulent ways.
We need to engage in a more sophisticated way to combat fraud and take volunteers to a whole new level. Malcom Sparrow says something along the lines of “if you think you can end fraud by speaking, they’re two steps ahead." We need to find a way to chase after the larger fraud issues and develop online platforms that will reach hundreds. A virtual reach is huge, and we would reach numbers of people that we normally would not. We need to use technology to expand and share our message. Numbers are so vast and only growing – the future has to be scaled. We can experiment with SMP and improve detection. How does the program detect? We can utilize secret shoppers.
Jon Lavin:
SMP is presented with a concern, takes it, and moves it. The visibility is amazing. The more people that realize all the billions of dollars that are lost due to Medicare fraud each year, the better. We already have a great step in the right direction when we are able to have Pam Zekman sit down with current director, Travis Trumitch, twice over the past year to share stories in regards to fraud on the CBS 2 evening news. We have to continue to ensure that beneficiares are protecting their Medicare as well. SMP is a powerful program. SMP directors often graduate from the role and go on into amazing things.
Marina Silva/Travis Trumitch:
Any other comments or stories to share?
Jon Lavin:
25 years is amazing! So many people utilize Medicare now & they should know they have the right to protect it. Showing the billions of dollars lost is frustrating when we should be showing the savings, but this is a huge benefit to the entire country.
Bill Benson:
We NEED to think about technology to detect now more than ever to reach/scale larger numbers. Take a look at shared savings to see how much SMP helped save. Show SMP programs saving/preventing money and how that money saved would look invested into SMP initiatives!
I would like to personally thank Bill and Jon for speaking with Marina Silva and myself over the past few months. Without all their leadership, we would not have a program that has been so successful for 25 years at AgeOptions and for the State of Illinois.
Please check back on December 16, 2020 for Part 3, the final piece of our 3 part series, where Diane Slezak will address the Illinois Senior Medicare Patrol.