Reforms needed to protect elderly, task force says

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Reforms needed to protect elderly, task force says

Thursday, July 27, 2000

FOLSOM, Pa. -- Attorney General Mike Fisher released a report yesterday that outlines ways to protect elderly Pennsylvanians from mental and physical abuse, as well as Medicaid fraud, insurance scams and other consumer-related concerns.

The Task Force for the Protection of Older Pennsylvanians report identifies chief health, safety and consumer problems facing older Pennsylvanians and recommends various social, educational and legislative reforms to combat those problems.

"I'm confident that the work of this task force will become a blueprint for action to protect older Pennsylvanians from the con artists, thieves and criminals that defraud or hurt the elderly," Fisher said at a news conference in Folsom, Delaware County.

In September 1998, the 135-member task force of academic, business, professional and law enforcement experts began looking into ways to fight Medicaid fraud, insurance scams, and the physical and mental abuse of the elderly. Pennsylvania has the second highest percentage of citizens over the age of 65 in the nation, making crimes against the elderly increasingly more common, Fisher said.

Some task force recommendations include:

Create a partnership between hospitals and agencies on aging to prevent patients who are abused from being discharged to an abusive home or environment.

Establish legislation requiring long-term care facilities and assisted-living centers to increase the ratio of qualified personnel to patients/residents.

Amend the Older Adults Protective Services Act to give local area agencies on aging jurisdiction to investigate reports of abuse received from employees of long-term care facilities regardless of the victim's age.

Require financial institution employees to report suspected financial abuse to the appropriate authority.

Establish legislation that would create strict accounting requirements for powers of attorney.

Enhance mandatory sentencing requirements for crimes against the elderly.

Develop a directory of toll-free numbers to centralize phone numbers frequently used by senior citizens.

Support passage of a Home Improvement Consumer Protection Law that would create statewide registration of home improvement contractors, enhanced criminal penalties for home improvement fraud and a guarantee fund to reimburse consumers for uncollectible losses.

Create a "Do Not Call" list requiring telemarketers to remove from their databases those consumers who do not wish to be contacted. Provide substantial penalties for telemarketers who violate the "Do Not Call" provision.

Create a "Do Not Send" list for consumers who do not want to receive sweepstakes solicitations, and

Establish legislation to protect a consumer's private information, including Social Security number, date of birth and personal financial data.