The Office of Inspector General (OIG), part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), recently released their Semiannual Report to Congress that highlighted some special achievements from the department during Fiscal Year 2019. The Illinois SMP is funded by HHS and is apart of the efforts in helping to prevent Medicare fraud. You can read the press release from the OIG here.

In Fiscal Year 2019, the OIG recovered $5.04 billion from investigations involving criminal actions, civil and administrative settlements, civil judgments and administrative actions by the OIG.

Other highlights from the report is that 809 criminal actions against individuals and organizations committing crimes against the HHS programs and the beneficiaries they serve along with another 695 civil actions.

If you or someone you know has experienced Medicare or health care fraud do not hesitate to contact the Illinois SMP at AgeOptions at (800)699-9043.

2020 is a Census Year- Can you tell fact from fiction?

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau is tasked with counting every living person in America, and in 2020, we will all be asked to complete this decennial census. This is the first year that people can respond to the Census online. As you can imagine, the 2020 Census leaves a huge opening for scammers to try to trick you and steal personal information.

As the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) points out “[k]nowing how the 2020 Census process works, what information you will — and won’t — be asked for, and some red flags will help you spot and report scams.” You can read more about this process, the questions and signs of a scam in the FTC blog post “2020 Census: Fact v Fiction” by clicking here.

AgeOptions, along with the other 12 Illinois Area Agencies on Aging, is leading the effort to get a complete count of all older adults in Illinois. If you are an aging services professional and would like to know more our Census outreach efforts, click here to sign up for Census-related emails from AgeOptions.

What would you like to see in 2020 from the Illinois SMP Fraud Alerts?

What topics and items are you looking forward to reading about in 2020? What did you like about our 2019 Fraud Alerts? How can we make these Fraud Alerts even better this year?

Please email travis.trumitch@ageoptions.org or reply to this email with all suggestions and feedback for the upcoming year. We want to listen to our consumers and make things better each and every Fraud Alert!

Thank you for subscribing, we really appreciate the feedback.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!

Looking forward to 2020!

Travis Trumitch

travis.trumitch@ageoptions.org

Please share this Fraud Alert with colleagues, consumers, or other professionals in your area. If you would like to sign up to receive the Fraud Alert directly, visit click here.

This project was supported, in part by grant number 90MPPG0036, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Administration for Community Living policy.

The Illinois SMP at AgeOptions partners with agencies across the state 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.

Please share this Fraud Alert with colleagues, consumers, or other professionals in your area and visit our website to sign up for our Fraud Alert email list.