My Health Care Tracker
By Vicki Crockett
There is an easy way to record what happens at your doctor appointments – and it also happens to be a fraud-fighting tool used nationwide.
My Health Care Tracker is a free resource in which you can take notes about products and services received at appointments and then compare your notes to your Medicare statements. If a product or service you received does not match your Medicare statement, you can contact your local Senior Medicare Patrol, or SMP, for help. There may be an error or possibly even fraud committed against you.
SMPs help beneficiaries prevent, detect, and report possible Medicare fraud. They’re in every state and province, including in Delaware at New Castle and Milford. They educate people in groups and also work one-on-one to help people with their specific situations. The SMP work is also done by volunteers, often retirees who want to help their peers.
Why should you care about detecting mistakes or fraud?
- You may owe less money.
- You might be able to figure out, early, if your medical identity has been stolen.
- You could protect the Medicare program for generations to come.
To get your own My Health Care Tracker, simply contact one of the DE SMP offices: 1-800-223-9074 ext. 2 is the general number; in New Castle contact 302-255-9774, [email protected], and in Sussex contact 302-424-8654, [email protected]. We’ll be happy to mail one to you, if you just give us your name and address. You can also find one on our website at https://smp.dhss.delaware.gov/resources/.
For translated materials, we can provide a My Health Care Tracker in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
Did you know that we also have a program on avoiding health care fraud that we’ll present for free? It takes about an hour, including plenty of time for questions. We’ll also provide a bag of goodies for every participant, which has informational material and a few handy things, like a pen, a tablet, a magnifying glass, a container of hand sanitizer, or a magnet clip for your fridge. We will present to any group of seniors, at an assisted living center, a church, or even a neighborhood. We typically present weekdays, but we can also make arrangements for a weekend or evening visit if that’s what works for you.
Our office also runs bingo games! We have cards and prizes for five games, and a spinning wheel of numbers to call. The game provides important information in a fun, interactive way. If we’ve already done a presentation to your group, a bingo game is a good way to remind participants of what they’ve already heard.
In New Castle county contact 302-255-9774, [email protected], and in Sussex county contact 302-424-8654, [email protected]. If you are in Kent County, you can contact either one of us, and we’ll make arrangements.
The Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) is ready to provide you with the information you need to PROTECT yourself from Medicare fraud, errors, and abuse; DETECT potential fraud, errors, and abuse; and REPORT your concerns. SMPs help educate and empower Medicare beneficiaries in the fight against health care fraud. Your SMP can help you with your questions, concerns, or complaints about potential fraud and abuse issues.
Bio
Vicki Crockett is an outreach coordinator for Senior Medicare Patrol. She serves in New Castle County, and lives just over the line in Pennsylvania with her daughter.
302-255-9774
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