While tax-related fraud schemes aimed at seniors have been in the news, financial schemes targeting the elderly aren’t restricted to those involving Internal Revenue Service impersonation calls or tax refund fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice has just filed a civil complaint alleging multiple international mail fraud schemes that have defrauded elderly and vulnerable U.S. victims out of tens of millions of dollars. According to the complaint, U.S. residents received fraudulent direct mail solicitations that falsely claimed that individual victims had won, or would soon win cash, prizes or other bonus. The solicitations appeared to be personalized even though they…
According to a 2013 report by the American Gaming Association, one third of Americans (34 percent) visited a casino in the past 12 months. 28 percent of people aged 65 and older visited a casino in the past 12 months. An article in Psychology Today, however, puts the percentage much higher: David Oslin at the University of Pennsylvania claims that 70 percent of people 65 years and older “had gambled in the previous year and that one in 11 had bet more than he or she could comfortably afford to lose.” A measly 6 percent of senior casino visitors go…
A health care agent is a person you appoint to make medical decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated or unable to make any decisions. A Living Will (Advanced Directive) expresses your wishes about your health care including, but not limited to, resuscitation, life sustaining treatments (respirator, feeding tube, etc.) and withholding / withdrawing of life sustaining treatments. The Living Will is only effective when you are terminally ill or unconscious and unable to communicate your wishes. When it comes to making decisions regarding end of life issues, do you know your wishes or have you communicated those…
David Wingate was at Daybreak Adult Daycare, Frederick, on saturday night. Along with Beth Montgomery, Home Instead, and Carole Luber and Eileen McLaughlin of Right at Home.
The Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services recently released a report showing self-neglect is the most common form of abuse in the elderly or disabled. Assistant Director of Henrico County’s Social Services, Shawn Rozier, says self-neglect is where “adults are losing the capability of meeting their day-to-day needs.” From July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013, Adult Protective Services in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield received over 2,000 reports of abuse, neglect or exploitation of the elderly. In Henrico alone, two-thirds of their cases could be attributed to self-neglect. Unfortunately self-neglect is an issue that is kept hidden from the…
Scams against the elderly are on the rise. And there are so many different scams, police have a hard time keeping up. Since 2008, elder abuse cases in Honolulu have risen almost 300 percent. Honolulu Police and prosecutors teamed up that year to form an Elder Abuse Justice Squad. The size of the squad has since doubled in 2010, then expanded again last year. The unit does not just handle scams against seniors, but also physical abuse and neglect. "The elders do not complain," says Honolulu prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro. "When they are physically abused, they do not complain. And when…
Maine needs to find ways to capitalize on its high percentage of older adults and the growing number who are staying in the workforce longer, an economist who specializes in workforce development said. John Dorrer of the Boston-based organization Jobs for the Future said that with an increase in those ages 55 and older in the labor market, the state will need to ensure these workers have the skills and education to remain active participants in Maine's economy. "We need to stop thinking that life stops at 62 or stops at 65," he told a special panel of Maine lawmakers,…
The Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services recently released a report showing self-neglect is the most common form of abuse in the elderly or disabled. Assistant Director of Henrico County’s Social Services, Shawn Rozier, says self-neglect is where “adults are losing the capability of meeting their day-to-day needs.” From July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013, Adult Protective Services in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield received over 2,000 reports of abuse, neglect or exploitation of the elderly. In Henrico alone, two-thirds of their cases could be attributed to self-neglect. Unfortunately self-neglect is an issue that is kept hidden from the…
Prostate cancer screening has little benefit for men aged 75 and older, yet over three years, the Medicare fee-for-service program spent $447 million annually on PSA-based screenings — one-third of which was for men in the over 75 age group, according to study by researchers at the Yale Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy, and Effectiveness Research (COPPER) Center. Published in the Oct. 4 issue of the journal Cancer, the study also found considerable geographic variation in the cost of prostate cancer screening. Many prostate cancers are slow-growing and unlikely to become problematic. Widespread screening with a serum-based PSA test may result…
In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Older Americans Month, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, submitted a Senate resolution with Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Chris Coons (D-DE), commemorating the contributions and achievements of our nation’s seniors. The Senate passed the resolution (S.Res.137) by unanimous consent. Related articles AARP Polls Find That Chained CPI Will Alienate Older Voters
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