Healthy Living
Protect Yourself
Older adults are often targets for Identity Theft because retired people are perceived to have large bank accounts, to be owners of their homes, have good credit and to be trusting of others. Very attractive prospects for identity theft! To protect against identity theft, don’t give your social security number (which is of course also your Medicare number) to someone who calls you on the phone. You don’t give out your bank account information to just anyone, nor should you let just anyone have your private information. Even if the caller claims to be from your bank or your credit card company, hang up and call them back using the number you already have to contact them. Never give private information over the phone unless you initiated the call and know the person you are speaking with.
SMP stands for “Senior Medicare Patrol.” The Senior Medicare Patrol was created to help stop Medicare fraud and mistakes, which cost Medicare billions of dollars every year. Medicare consumers are in an excellent position to help by protecting their Medicare number (a key component in Medicare fraud and identity theft), and detecting mistakes and unusual activity – by reading their Medicare Summary Notice – they are helping win the war on Medicare fraud. Contact staff at any of our offices for more information.
Scenic Valley Area Agency on Aging has a speaker's bureau of staff and volunteers who can talk on these subjects:
- Scams Against Seniors
- Scams Against Medicare
- How Can Care Management Help?
- Fall Prevention.
Upcoming Programs
Upcoming classes and presentations:
Healthy Links
Please click on the link you would like to follow. Remember, these links take you away from the
Scenic Valley website and on to something else that looks interesting…
AARP (life from the perspective of older adults)
http://www.aarp.org
Alzheimer’s Association (Alzhiemer’s education, issues, support, prevention)
http://www.alz.org
Caregiving (caregiving issues, support)
http://www.caregiving.com
Iowa Attorney General (consumer protection)
http://www.state.ia.us/government/ag/
Iowa Compass (assistive technology)
http://www.iowacompass.org
Mayo Clinic (health information)
http://www.medicare.gov
Medicare (official government site)
http://www.medicare.gov
National Family Caregiver’s Association
http://www.nfcacares.org
National Institute on Aging (health, publications, directory of health and aging organizations)
www.nia.nih.gov
Social Security Online (a “social security office” in your computer)
http://www.social.security.gov
