Brooklyn Ages BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
Council on Aging’s new campaign combats health-care fraud
Borough President Adams has committed
to building a borough where
every Brooklynite, regardless of
their age, is treated with dignity and
respect. At least one out of every eight
residents of the borough is 65 years of
age or older. This signifi cant segment
of the population is oftentimes lacking
access to critical public services that
are otherwise available to the rest of
their communities because of a lack
of awareness of these resources and a
dearth of information.
“We want Brooklyn to be the premier
place to spend our golden years,
enjoying our families and serving our
communities,” said Borough President
Adams. “That’s why we must
ensure that Brooklyn is a place that
makes it easy for older adults to stay
connected to people who are important
to them, providing support to
help them stay healthy, active, and
age in place. An age-friendly Brooklyn
will enable our older residents to
have a better quality of life by actively
participating in community activities,
cultural programs, and neighborhood
planning.”
One of the ways that Brooklyn Borough
Hall has been a convener for improving
the lives of our borough’s seniors
is through the Brooklyn-Wide
Interagency Council on Aging, which
since 1972 has been a voice for issues
concerning the borough’s seniors including
community programming,
health care, income security, patient’s
rights, and senior services. Borough
President Adams and his predecessors
at Brooklyn Borough Hall have
worked with BWICA for over four decades
to improve the quality of life
for seniors across the borough by facilitating
connections as a convener
and advisor that recommends policy
initiatives, programming, and allocation
SENIOR CORNER: HOW TO DETECT AND PREVENT HEALTH-CARE FRAUD
4 ONE BROOKLYN | SPRING 2019
Borough President Adams met with seniors at the Shorefront YM-YWHA in Brighton Beach to launch
a borough-wide Senior Medicare Patrol program to combat the more than $600 million lost annually
in Medicare and Medicaid fraud in Kings County — the county with the highest incidence rate
statewide. Borough President’s offi ce / Erica Krodman
of funding targeted at the senior
population.
On Wednesday, Feb. 27, Borough
President Adams joined BWICA representatives
at the Shorefront YMYWHA
of Brighton Beach–Manhattan
Beach to launch a new awareness campaign
to combat Medicare and Medicaid
fraud across Kings County — the
county with the largest amount of
health-care fraud in all of New York
State. Data from the Federal Bureau
of Investigation indicates that fraud
in Medicare and Medicaid cost more
than $80 billion nationwide annually,
with $5 billion lost in New York State
alone.
The campaign will center on disseminating
information to Brooklynites
on how to detect potential Medicare
or Medicaid fraud through fl yers
and other paraphernalia translated
into multiple languages including Chinese,
Haitian Creole, Russian, and
Spanish as part of a community engagement
effort to engage civic organizations,
houses of worship, health-care
facilities, senior centers, and other local
groups.
BWICA and the New York State-
Wide Senior Action Council will be
leading the effort to conduct presentations
on detecting Medicare and Medicaid
fraud across the borough including
recruiting volunteers. To learn
more about how you can help improve
the lives of Brooklyn’s seniors, join
BWICA’s monthly meetings held on
the fourth Wednesday of every month
at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
If you are interested in hosting a
community meeting to raise awareness
for this important issue, contact
the Senior Medicare Patrol at (800)
333–4374.
Estimates based on Federal Bureau
of Investigation data indicate
that fraud in Medicare and Medicaid
programs cost Brooklyn taxpayers
more than $629 million a year.
Fraudulent activities range
from criminals using stolen Medicare
numbers, or lying about eligibility
to providers billing for services
never provided or received,
or dispensing generic drugs billed
at name-brand prices.
Learning how to protect, detect,
and report suspected errors, fraud,
or abuse will protect you and others
from becoming a victim of Medicare
or Medicaid fraud.
If you suspect that you have been
a target of a scam or other abuse,
call (800) 333–4374 and report it to
your New York State Senior Medicare
Patrol.
Here are some important steps
you can take to protect yourself
from identity theft:
• Don’t share or confi rm your
Medicare or Social Security number
with anyone who contacts you
by telephone, e-mail, or in person,
unless you have given permission
in advance. Medicare will never
contact you (unless you request
it to) asking for your Medicare
number or other personal information,
or to send you a new card.
Medicare already has all of your information
on fi le.
• Don’t ever let anyone borrow or
pay to use your Medicare number.
• There is no charge for your new
card, so don’t pay anyone to send it
to you.
• Review your Medicare Summary
Notice to be sure you and
Medicare are only being charged for
actual items and services received.
• Your new Medicare card was
sent automatically by mail to the address
on fi le with Social Security.
• If you have not received your
new Medicare card, call New York
State Senior Medicare Patrol at (800)
333–4374.
The state’s Senior Medicare Patrol
offi ce is committed to raising
awareness for Medicare fraud, patient’s
rights, and other important
issues.
If you or your organization would
like to request a presenter, please call
(800) 333–4374, or fi ll out a presentation
form at www.brooklynseniors.
org.
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