By Ron Winter
I have written many times about the absence of federal laws that would give uniform protection to the elderly, especially from the growing scourge of Granny Snatching, wherein people living in one state are forcibly confined in another state and stripped of their assets, based on the claim that they are incompetent.
On June 14, in Washington, D.C., however, a nationwide group of elder care activists is taking a step toward expanded awareness that could lead to uniform national laws to protect against elder abuse – specifically Granny Snatching. Organized by Latifa Ring of Texas, the National Organization to End Guardianship Abuse – NOTEGA – is inviting members of Congressional delegations from across the country to meet with “advocates and family members of elderly and disabled victims who have been declared incapacitated.”
While actual enactment of uniform elder abuse laws may still be a long way off, the need for such laws is well established and the goal of the June 14 gathering is to impress this on Congressmen and Senators. From noon until 2 p.m. in Room 2237 of the Rayburn Building on Capitol Hill, the people who can actually change our approach to elder abuse nationally will hear a litany of horror stories from across the country and hopefully distribute these stories to their Congressional colleagues.
The gathering has been dubbed the Elder Abuse and Guardianship Victim’s Taskforce for Change. Ms. Ring states that its goal “is to be a voice for those who have no voice, sharing their stories with each other, with agencies and with leaders on the Hill who have the power to make a difference and to bring an end to this travesty.”
Participants will “meet with legislators and will convene a working session where they will craft recommendations for improvements that can be made to end elder abuse and guardianship abuse.”
As noted in a number of reports from various agencies dealing with the elderly the onrushing increase in the percentage of Americans who are entering their elder years is also delivering an increase in cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Those who are actually suffering – or will – from these maladies will need a tremendous level of care.
But to be classified as incapacitated when such is not the case will not only add an unsustainable burden to Medicare and Medicaid costs, but is an abomination to the individuals who often are powerless to fight the forces aligned against them – courts, attorneys, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, family members and appointed conservators or guardians.
The Baby Boomer generation, when added to the World War II and Korean War generation, is bringing not only huge numbers to the “elderly” designation, but also some tremendous assets. Consider that most of the Baby Boomer generation began working in the late 1960s and early 1970s and quickly saw their average pay skyrocket beyond their parents’ wildest dreams, and its is obvious that their Social Security income alone will be much higher than that of their parents.
Add to that their retirement incomes, bank accounts, stocks, bonds, and real estate accumulated over 40 years in the working world and you are looking at more than $1 trillion in disposable assets annually when the number of America’s elderly hits 80 million – projected to occur in just over a decade.
That much money will go a long way toward providing a quality of life that has never existed previously, but it also will bring out the predators – people who see assets owned by the elderly as a huge source of payoffs for scams and related rip-offs – some of them currently legal!
These scams have been ongoing forever but the number of elder abuse complaints – valid complaints not nuisance or harassment – is rising steadily and it already is too late for some victims. It seems we never hear anything on the news from Washington except more taxes and less connection with the reality of daily life in America.
It is my hope that the June 14 event will bring the level of awareness that is needed to focus serious Congressional and media attention on an issue that already is of crucial importance to us all.
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