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The 52 Senior Medicare Patrol Project grants administered by the Administration on Aging (AoA) include four new projects in Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee, and West Virginia, and 48 renewed grants distributed in 43 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

"These projects are helping older Americans better understand their Medicare billing statements, so that they can take appropriate steps to correct errors," Secretary Thompson said. "Through these kinds of programs, beneficiaries can play an important role in helping the Medicare program avoid unintended errors and detect deliberate abuses."

Over the past four years, the AoA has worked with the Health Care Financing Administration, the HHS Office of Inspector General, the Department of Justice, Medicare contractors, health care providers, and others to develop programs that train volunteer retired professionals such as doctors, nurses, accountants, investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and teachers to serve as resources and educators for older persons in their communities.

Senior volunteers undergo several days of training reviewing health care benefit statements and outlining the steps seniors can take to protect themselves. Volunteers work in local senior centers and other places where older persons gather teaching beneficiaries such skills as how to treat their Medicare number as they would their credit cards, how to use journals to keep track of their medical services and health care instructions, how to read their Medicare notices, and how to get answers to billing questions they may have.

Following is a list of new Senior Medicare Patrol Project Grants and the amount of each award:

• Kentucky Association of Senior Service Corps Programs, Elizabethtown - $164,176. This statewide organization that provides volunteers through 19 National Senior Service Corps Programs (nine RSVP, six Foster Grandparent, and four Senior Companion Programs) will recruit and train volunteers to educate and inform Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in approximately 40 counties across the state.

• Jewish Family & Vocational Services of Middlesex County, Edison, N.J. - $180,000. A partnership between Jewish Family and Vocational Services of Middlesex County, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, the Office of the Ombudsman for the Institutionalized Elderly, and the New Jersey Chapter of AARP to improve the quality of health care for senior citizens through the use of trained retired persons as volunteers.

• Upper Cumberland Development District Area Agency on Aging, Cookeville, Tenn. - $180,000. The Tennessee Aging Network Consortium of nine Area Agencies on Aging, 135 senior centers, 9 long-term care ombudsmen programs, nine legal assistance programs, the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), AARP members, and other partners will coordinate federal, state, local and private resources on a statewide effort to recruit and train volunteers.

• West Virginia University Center on Aging, Morgantown - $180,000. To form a partnership with the West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services, four Area Agencies on Aging, seven Senior Centers, and the West Virginia Chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons to recruit and train volunteers throughout West Virginia.

Following is a list of the 48 continuation Senior Medicare Patrol Project Grants:

Alabama Commission on Aging, Montgomery
Alaska State Division of Senior Services, Anchorage
Arizona Department of Economic Security, Phoenix
Arkansas Seniors Organized, Little Rock
California Health Insurance Counseling and Assistance Program Association, San Mateo
Colorado Division of Insurance, Denver
Connecticut Department of Social Services, Hartford
Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, New Castle
AARP Foundation, District of Columbia
Friendship House, District of Columbia
Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Georgia Department of Human Resources, Atlanta
Atlanta Regional Commission, Atlanta, Ga.
Hawaii Executive Office on Aging, Honolulu
Idaho Commission on Aging, Boise
Suburban Area Agency on Aging, Oak Park, Ill.
Indiana Division of Disability, Aging, and Rehabilitation Services, Indianapolis
Iowa Department of Elder Affairs, Des Moines
Louisiana Association of Councils on Aging, Inc., Natchitoches
Maryland Department of Aging, Baltimore
Maine Department of Human Services' Bureau of Elder and Adult Services, Augusta
Elder Services of Merrimack, Lawrence, Mass.
Area Agencies on Aging Association of Michigan, Lansing
Minnesota Board on Aging, St Paul
Mississippi Department of Human Services, Jackson
District III Area Agency on Aging, Warrensburg, Mo.
Missoula Aging Services, Missoula, Mont.
Nebraska Department of Human Services, Lincoln
New Hampshire Division of Elderly and Adult Services, Concord
Nevada Division of Aging Services, Las Vegas
New York State Office for the Aging, Albany
North Carolina Division on Aging, Raleigh
New Mexico State Agency on Aging, Santa Fe
Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging, Cleveland Ohio
State of Oklahoma Insurance Department, Oklahoma City
Senior and Disabled Services Division, Salem, Ore.
Coalition of Advocates for the Rights of the Infirm Elderly, Philadelphia, Pa.
Governor's Office of Elderly Affairs, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Aging 2000 Incorporated, Providence, R.I .
South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Columbia
East River Legal Services Corporation, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Baylor University, Waco, Texas
The National Hispanic Council on Aging, Corpus Christi, Texas
Utah Legal Services, Salt Lake City
Virginia Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Richmond
Office of the Insurance Counselor, Olympia, Wash.
Wisconsin Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups, Madison
Wyoming Division on Aging, Cheyenne

To help beneficiaries and others report possible problems, the HHS Inspector General maintains a toll-free Hotline, 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477).

Additional information about AoA's Senior Medicare Patrol Project Grants is available by contacting Brian Lutz at 202-690-7525 or email: brian.lutz@aoa.gov.

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