 Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining us for another weekly edition of condo insider, which is put on by White Council of Community Associations. So the whole purpose is about educating our condo board members as well as the general public. So with me today. I have with me Norma cops. She is the director with senior medical patrol. So she's going to talk to us about Medicare and also in her office. They handle. I'm not sure if some of you seen their commercials, but they have commercials about fraud and scams. And, you know, seniors are one of the most vulnerable people to those scams. So she's going to go through what they do in their office. And partly, we also want to talk about how some of this fraud. You know, we talk about seniors and especially seniors and condos, you know, our maintenance fees are always going up. They will never go down. So we have to try to be cognizant of every attempt where we can save money or, you know, where some seniors are paying things when they shouldn't really have to be paying for it at all. Like, I think what's coming home on the TV is something about there's some agencies that can even evaluate your plans to see where you could have more potential savings. So this is part of a series that I'm doing on opportunities where seniors can take advantage of some of these programs to help them save money or, you know, find other services that they are eligible for at no charge. So let me bring on Norma, Norma Kopp. She is with Senior Medicare Patrol, also known as SMP Hawaii. So welcome to the show Norma. So let's start off by telling us exactly what SMP Hawaii does. Thank you for having me Raylene. On behalf of Senior Medicare Patrol Hawaii, we are part of the Department of Health and we're housed, managed by the Executive Office on Aging. We are part of a national network of 54 fellow chapters across the United States in the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas, as well as the District of Columbia, so total 54. And we've been here since 1997. So we just wrapped up our 25th year in Hawaii. We are a volunteer program federally funded and again state managed by the Department of Health. What SMP does in its charge is to be sure that we assist and empower beneficiaries, not just Medicare but Medicaid as well, those that need help. And we also address concerns from their families and caregivers, and the whole thrust of it is to teach them how to prevent and detect as well as report healthcare fraud, alleged fraud, or actual fraud, as well as billing errors and abuse. So the difference between abuse and fraud just to make things really clear is abuse could happen once and it may not involve other people. Whereas fraud, there's an element of criminal intent that we can sort of scratch and sniff and follow. And at the very onset, if you're not sure who to contact, whether it's healthcare related, or even a gift card scam or possibly worse a romance scam. Just call us and we'll have our number and all of the contact contact information available. Okay, so I know what seniors a lot of times they get. I think my think on it because I'm not at that stage yet of Medicare. So they get sometimes they'll get billing. And especially for services that they never or even a test that they never took, right, or even services and it depends upon the plan that they have. Because I think like state workers they never have to pay anything out of pocket but other other private employers, they might have different things within their plans of that nature. Can you go a little bit about that. So on that comment about state workers it really depends on when you entered state work as a public steward some people are grandfathered under the old plan or former plan others like myself are under the current plan. So it's not carte blanche and it's not like we don't get, we don't pay anything but it really depends on entry of service but going back to the whole thing about summary notices so these are not billing statements these are quarterly statements from Medicare that come in the snail mail. And if you set up an online account with Medicare.gov obviously you're going to be able to get your statement on demand. But sometimes it's difficult to decode all the different specs the appeal section or even just a front page but it's very clear at the very top it says this is not a bill. However, some Kapuna will say I never ordered this brace or why is there a duplicate record of this so you know we'd like to think that we cut some grace to people that are working hard in health care. You know some of this is unintended and human error, but as we know with 70 billion plus dollars a year to false claims in the Medicare program. The Medicare has an insolvent issue so this whole issue about making sure that you can understand and decode your billing statement and if you don't know how no shame call us will go over that we have people. Literally in in their 60 70 years age group saying I live alone I don't know what what this is and so if it feels funny if it doesn't look right call us will put your mind to ease. I don't know what calls will connect with partners. You know when you see companies like IRS Medicare Medicaid, SSA Social Security agents, right off the bat really everybody should know with think tech Hawaii. These agencies will will not call you. They don't have the staff they don't have the time. They're not going to call you it's not efficient, but they will snail mail you for the most part they will not text you or email you. They're working with banks they're not, you know, it, if you did not solicit this if you did not create an online account. Assume that it's a scam and these savvy scammers this is their lifetime career. Everything else, but working either solo or in groups, not just in this state or in this nation, but across the world. These are highly sophisticated networks of scammers and you know now they're talking about artificial intelligence which makes everything look so real as well right. Yeah, let's pull up slide number four. So it's a really good you have a little, a little bit of stats. Yeah, we have like 10,000 Americans that yes, 55 each day. Yes. And in Hawaii we have what one in four white residents it's going to is 65 or even older. It's 19 since 2020 so a quarter of our 1.4 million population of residents sit in this baby boomer 65, you know, age the golden, the golden era right the silver tsunami, but look at this. This was, you know, this is really startling that in seven years in the year 2030, we're going from a quarter to one third of the population here in Hawaii being, you know, silver tsunami. Yeah, yeah. So more more on the stats is that you know, when you think about 2017 I don't know about you really but it feels like it was ages ago, but that was just six years ago. We had about 246,000 Medicare eligible individuals. Now, double that amount in 10 years from or in 20 years span 2037. That is half a million projected in the popular half a million people by way of the baby boomers right we were born 1946 to 64 so I don't know when you were born but that's the largest population in American history. They're all turning 65. And so this solvency issue I was talking about is like a checkbook that's just just surviving on its last page its last check. And so what the volunteers do with SMP, whether they're counselors or they distribute information that when they go shopping or, and everybody can do that in our volunteer team, or they're actually out there in the exhibits now that we're back in person we're out there in the communities, or we're doing presentations like at various agencies now they're asking for in person zoom MS teams. What they're all doing is not just expanding the reach of SMP, but they're trying to keep the integrity of the Medicare program. So our children and our grandchildren can benefit from that you know what when we started working part time, full time I don't know when you start I started working when I was 15. We started paying into the Medicare program. And then the paycheck stub was working at canteen corporation at a little stadium. You know, I'm not going to give it up when I turn I want that piece of benefit right so. Yeah, and thankfully we work together as a team we're part of Hawaii ship meaning you know the executive office on aging has our unbiased counselors from Hawaii ship state health insurance assistance program. We're SMP we're sort of the state scambusters for health related fraud, and then we have our long term care of Budsman volunteer programs. I'm going to really dwindle, you know, the funds I mean even Social Security. Here about it's being like no what no what you know dwindling down not going to be money even though you paid into it. So we have to reserve what the people have paid in for the next generation of people. That's still, you know, and it's just amazing how some people have nothing better to do. Yes, create scams, you know, and people always say that they'll tell me you know after we do a phone call they'll say oh thank you because I really didn't think calling the police would help but honestly we work with law enforcement and they're very grateful. These beneficiaries are very grateful when we can salvage a little bit back for them. Timing is everything really when people call us, we're hoping that that scam just occurred or they woke up to that and like we got to call SMP. When people dilly dally or they feel guilty or ashamed to call. I'm telling you that is a big factor in the success failure rate. So the longer you take because you just made grandma guilty feel guilty because she just lapsed in her mind and she said she gave out her number her Medicare number her social. You know, we do that to grandma. It's not healthy. We shouldn't be shaming the victims that have already felt so bad about it we should try to like muster up the courage just call just call and try to take care of it. Yeah, because I didn't want to myself once I got a text message about a package I'm like, so I put my click on the link and then I have to pay like $2 I'm like, after I did I'm like brain you should not have done that. No, better. No, it was turn around call the bank. Nothing had gone through yet nice and I just said, well, I lost my car. Yeah, so that just stopped everything stop everything right. You know, this is why it takes we tell people it takes our entire state we're not talking Governor Josh Green State of Hawaii we're talking about all of us looking out for each other. We have a lot of kupuna either self determined lives or just by consequences they're living alone. They're living in isolated areas we somehow got to take the time to look out for them because guess what yeah, every day we wake up and the sun rises we're that one day older. We're sharing that road. We don't feel it but one day we will. I'm becoming aware that don't assume that the seniors are going to know, you know, I mean I was talking to one that was, and I've known this woman for a couple years and I mean I was talking to and I go, you don't know what part is. I was shocked, you know, and I'm like, it has a pandemic isolated us too much so we're not getting out. But I, you can't always just assume that people are going to know these things. You know, some of us take for granted. Right. Right. So that's, that's why in our mission we talk about prevent the tech and report and prevent is really about education so you're right, you know, cognitively I don't know about you but oh boy, as a decades we're on I'm just like okay where, what was I doing you know so the idea of making sure that we remind people or put posted notes by the phone or, you know, tell Auntie just hang up, you know, don't engage savvy scammers are recording right they're recording they can they can do voice impersonations they they have AI at their fingertips they can be us. They're not really they're they're fine with taking our money right that's great that's control, but they really want to be us online they want our identity. And so our three step prevention here is just treat your Medicare card, as you would like your, your favorite credit card, you know, your, your, your mileage plus card for your airlines, treat it like platinum. Don't give out your card. And one of the tricky words people use these days over the telephone or text is what was your, you know, Miss Tenna what was your Medicare card number again. You know, as they, they talk to you and say oh you have an appointment we see you have an appointment so you don't have to wait in line too long in the waiting room. You know, we're just checking to see. You know, we just kind of cleaning up the, the files here what was your Medicare card number again this is a true story where the word again, just trip this woman up and on Hawaiian. She was smart enough or alert enough or just thought to call us and we were able to replace that card within 10 days. And yeah, so even words like again, they'll use your name, they'll make you feel good. But the bottom line is what scammers are really good at is they want to put you under the ether ETH ER and what that is is this incredible mix of emotions that will make you feel urgent. I got to get it or scared or threatened or nervous or happy they want to get you in this ether and once they can get you under the ether they got you. So we need to just take a step back hang up delete permanently delete get rid of our trash bin in our computer and put in that software that's going to help safeguard a lot of these really dangerous notes. And going back to what you said about detect. Even though the person's like not even sure, or even their family members not even sure, it's still good to make that phone call to SMP because even though it may not be it may be okay for that particular incidence, but it's starting to develop a pattern. You know, it starts just with one, you know, and they kind of like got away with it but now now you're getting multiple phone calls for the same situation. Right. That would be once you start getting like more than five is kind of like a red flag. Sure. Or to this then we're not we're not seeing, you know, it is a possible scam so I think if any, you know, people think it could be like something really small might be minor. So it could lead into something bigger. Right. That calm that, you know, it's just enough and sometimes all they need to do is scam how many people and for $10 and they, they could have $100,000 in days. Right. And again, beyond the money, what's more valuable is for them to take our identity and what they do with that identity is I can, if I'm the scanner scammer, I could take hold of all I need is your social security like just your four digits the last four and I just need your date of birth and I can go to town on you. I'll open 10 credit cards and I'll start shopping on your name. And then I'm going to go after your, your, your, your friends your calabash auntie uncle. I'm not stopping at just your household. So I'll look you up. I'll look at property values. I'll see where you are. I'll Google map you. I'll try to connect the dots, which is pretty easy now. And yeah, I'll just make sure that I bring you down because now it's easier, right? It's easier. I just need to take one down and then connect the dots with family and friends. Social media, you know, Facebook, it has its good purposes where you can be reminded of a classroom union or an anniversary or but oftentimes what was happening with the pandemic is people were showing their vaccination cards, like hey, I got vaccinated and you if you zoom in there's that date of birth there's all these elements for scammers to just, you know, just really mess you up so people just be aware that when you post something there's a downside to that as well just got to be really careful. And I really think our younger generation we got to give them credit a lot of them sometimes don't get the credit they deserve, but they're the very ones that because they're kind of savvy with online devices. You know, and they're looking after their, you know, Kupuna, it's important to acknowledge them right now. Generation X and the younger generations. They're a little bit more savvy, although 18 to 24 right now that age group, they are the number one group to be scammed for online purchases right now. All the generations I've talked to the high schoolers and stuff they they're very aware, because not only are scams increasing the types of scams are rampant so there's Bitcoin right there's we talked about romance scam we dealt with a case with three checks going up to a woman 89 year old widow who is very lonely befriending somebody who she thought was a doctor in Korea, and she was asked by the doctor supposedly her new lover to help him with his medical practice and wrote three checks 58,000 80,000. And add that up Norm 130,000 for a total of $260,000 in two months, all gone just like that and by the time the daughter called us after seeing a commercial, our commercial it was like, I should have called sooner. I was just too ashamed. I was so angry. I was. Yeah, it's all gone. So, let's learn from these lessons. Timing is important. SMP should be like one of the first things you think about next to police. We will not just candle or address your healthcare alleged scams or actual scams and billing errors and, and things like that. But we will be a referral source and contact the agency that's most appropriate to deal with when it comes to non health care scams so we have offices in with the federal trade of federal trade Commission FTC in Los Angeles so we work with their attorneys. We work down the street with commerce and consumer affairs. We work with the attorney general's office. We work with public safety narcotics enforcement. We have different. We work with the bank security management corporate security folks. You know, it's not just healthcare but it's, we pivot will be the referral source for non health care. One thing that you said, yeah, I want to make this clear. You had said all they need is your last four digits or your social security and your date of birth and they can find you. Well, that's pretty much the two core identifiers that can get them closer to getting in on, on just being able to identify you. So they, you know, if they can find, like, if they can find your social security number and the last four digits. There's just a lot of technology out there to be able to find that right and then because we're all pretty much online, but we have to be careful so I'll be really honest with you really when I have certain forms that are in front of me and for my social security number. I'll call the agency and say, do you really need that? Oftentimes the clerks will say, Oh, you know what, that's just standard. We're not even thinking what's on the application anymore. It's an old form, right revised 2006 or whatever on the bottom of the page. Oftentimes we just, just by just not even thinking we'll put our social social security and I think it's important for us to question that right in this 2023 year, people are still asking us for a social security number. I just would just draw a line across that. Like right now I fill out a form and it was to do an ACH spot on my, send this even then it's encrypted email. I'm still like, can I, can you just call me from the office and I'll give you the number information. Yes. But call me and fill in the other part, you know. Yes. See, we're out of mind, right? But imagine Kupuna, 78 years old, not knowing that perhaps that might be an option not to fill that portion out. What are they going to do? I don't know if everybody knows, even if you only put in your account number, you still need the routing number, the routing numbers on the websites, the bank websites. It's like so easy to fill in the rest, you know, so I'm like, give me the routing number, but call me for the account number. You know, still I don't want to fill in as, I want to fill in as least amount. Yes. You know, is the way I feel. Yeah. So just try to keep the message grow simple for the viewers. It's really about just, just protecting your identifiers, your Medicare card number, your social security card number, your driver's license, all of that just keep it close. So to educate yourself, learn, we have our website, smphoi.org, we'll come out, we'll come out to your audience, your family, your groups, you know, we'll do it on Zoom, we'll do it in person, what have you. We're available, we have volunteers, we need more volunteers, we'll train. And, you know, when something doesn't feel right, right, really, you know, our head and head and heart will always wrestle with each other, but there's a there's a referee there and that's our gut. It's our now it's something deep down inside the lower stomach that just is just does not feel right. And that's what you need to follow is your gut call us will help you as best we can. And a lot of times families will be really good about summarizing the facts so we're not getting all over the place will just say, could you just email us the facts just tell us when this happened, where did this happen how did this happen and then, you know, let's go from there and and so so far so good right now and we thank our volunteers right now because without them there'd be no smp anywhere. And what's one of your, one of the ones that a call that you took in at it ended up being started out being kind of like, you know, just like here, but then eventually it blew into something big. What's, what's one exactly. Okay, well it's not healthcare related but it could have been because it would have probably impacted their resources for health plans but bottom line is I got a call. You know, fairly older gentleman who was calling on behalf of his parents from another island I won't see which island, and he was calling, and he was rather calm for being shaken up by the news that his parents got an email that said that their account at such and such bank was being compromised and about 88 other account holders of the bank were in the same situation so okay that to me was a flag like. Not a lot, but enough. Okay, that was number one parents were under the ether they panic they said oh okay they were told take $90,000 out wire it to Hong Kong. The bank said it was a secured entity and a lot of the other account holders were in the process of doing the same thing. Okay, so now more ether are under this cloud they're like okay we got to get it done got to get it done. Boom, 90,000 is gone. Okay, so something happened. Parents thought, what just happened, we better call our kids right so the sun calls me calls us and says I don't know where to go I called police, I need help. I'm getting the run around from the banks blah blah blah blah blah. So we got a hold of the banks got hold of the police we got you know I again talk to the investigators. Again, this is not healthcare, but we'll do our best as we can, and then leave it to this process to take, take its place. And a couple weeks later, the son called and emailed me as well and said that they were able to work through the case. And the investigators on that island said that in the five weeks they were doing multiple fraud cases this one moved so quickly, because the time was being honored and everyone worked together. And he credited SMP for like just, you know, working with the family, you know, and being the facilitator. They got, they're getting a check from the FBI, according to the sun. No scam here with about $85,000 back. Oh, wow. Good. Yeah. Yeah. So we're down to the end. Let's just kind of review the prevent detect. Yes. So we will be, we will underscore the need to educate continue to bring out this message that it's important to understand that not all errors are intentional. But with all the rampant scams and the different types of scams, technological, everything else, email, text, be really careful. What looks legit is probably not because if you didn't initiate it. How did they find you, right? Look, look at, look at the links that you're getting emails be really skeptical skeptical about offers that look pretty good or investments scammers will work very quickly. I wouldn't click on anything that is foreign. I wouldn't click on anything that flatters you too much. You know, you are one of only 1100. I mean, what, and a lot of these checks look so good, like, I'll just cash this in 3,820. I mean, it looks so good. And it's just enough, right. What's the harm, big harm, don't do it. And if our tellers are doing their job, they're going to stop you and say, anti, this looks like a scam. I just talked to my bank manager. So it does take a whole state a whole community right Raylene it's not just one household so don't ever feel alone don't ever feel like oh my gosh my mom just got scammed shame I don't like call call just contact us will do our best. Timing is everything like, like I said, again, we're a volunteer program so to the extent that we have qualified volunteers and train them on and on. This is the success of our program so we want to continue for another 25 years. We need everybody's help we need everybody to fight and and protect this place that's so precious this place called Hawaii there's no place like this on earth and I've lived elsewhere. These volunteers are for real. We're trying to make short impact and lasting difference. And you talk about money, there's nothing more raw and necessary and critical than money, but more importantly, your legacy. It doesn't get any better than this as some people way to volunteer for a program like this is it's like a movement it doesn't feel like just a program. So we want to thank all of our partners out there, our volunteers, our families who are patient with us and all of those that call in and and ask for help. We're nearing the end of our time. So I want to thank you Norma for coming on to the show today. I think in a couple of weeks or next week we have your other division the ship ship people. That will be the other part of a segment that we're doing on, particularly for aging in place kind of things, more than just aging in place because scams can be from a teenager on up it's they have no they're not discriminatory on age. I know my niece got one and with her bank account and now I have to laugh at that because she only had like a dollar and why'd you open the account with a dollar. My submit a lot. I'm like you're gonna count for a dollar. So, so it takes. And scammers will go low, you know. But the bank caught it actually the bank caught it. So they close the account. Right on. Thank you. I want to thank you very much. My pleasure. I'm very informative. And so again to people if you want to want to learn a little bit more they can do presentations in your office or with your family, they can do that. And also they can also tell you a little bit more about volunteering and, and even just volunteering you're going to learn a lot more about the SMP, and even just the detection. And what you need to know so being a volunteer you're going to learn a lot when you do the volunteer. And it's, and it's very rewarding to make sure that we protect each other. So, thank you everyone for joining us for another edition of Auto Insider. Again, Norma, thank you very much for being on the show. You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please click the like and subscribe button on YouTube. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Check out our website, thinktechawaii.com. Mahalo.