Delaware’s Senior Medicare Patrol helps residents detect fraud and mistakes, but staff aren’t sure the program will be protected under the Trump administration.
The SMP is funded by a federal grant, which covers staff salaries, promotional items, and office supplies. The program is active in all 50 states and four territories.
SMP community engagement staff table at local libraries, health fairs, and senior centers throughout the state to raise awareness of fraud and help catch mistakes.
Delaware SMP’s program director Barbara Jackson said there’s about $60 billion lost each year in Medicare due to fraud. The first fear, Jackson said, is larger than just her program.
“Medicare, it always seems to be in jeopardy,” Jackson said. “I talk about running out of money, so the $60 billion is surely something that would be good back into Medicare so the premiums don’t have to be raised and the fund stays there for the people that are still paying into it while they’re working.”
About 23 percent of Delawareans are enrolled in Medicare.
Delaware joined a lawsuit earlier this month to help retain $38 million in funding that the Trump administration is trying to cut that goes toward public health programs.
Jackson said she and her team of four feel vulnerable as they watch programs nationally and in the First State lose funding.
“We haven’t been told that we won’t be funded. We’re not getting answers… I’m not sure,” Jackson said. “If the grant ends, I guess we’d have to wrap things up. But as you probably know, all these things are done very quickly. So it’s scary to think that just in one day you could be just sliced off.”
Jackson said the anxiety has always been alive among her colleagues, but lately that has increased.
“I have said that the group is a good group here in Delaware, and ones that I’ve met all over the country, they’re very dedicated to this mission… We all believe in it. So I just would hate to see it go just because they don’t think it’s needed.”
For now, Jackson says she thinks her program will continue running through the upcoming fiscal year. She’s unsure whether the next fiscal year’s budget can be relied on to continue funding for Delaware’s SMP.
