Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) has introduced S. 1821, the Elder Abuse Victims
Act of 2009, which aims to combat the exploitation of seniors.
The Elder Abuse Victims Act would boost funding for the long-term care ombudsman program, improve training for long-term care professionals, and create a council to make policy recommendations on elder abuse to Congress every two years. Other key provisions of the legislation include:
- Defines mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud aimed at seniors as elder abuse.
- Aims to create standard definitions of elder abuse and elder exploitation to better protect seniors under the law.
- Create funding streams for positions within the state courts, prosecutors’ offices, and/or state Medicaid Fraud Control Units to manage justice-related cases involving seniors.
The legislation – whose companion bill is H.R. 488, introduced by Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) and passed in the House earlier this year – also complements the Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act (S. 631) and the Elder Justice Act (S. 795).
The Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act, introduced by Sen. Kohl, would provide states with resources needed to improve criminal background screening of employees who work with seniors. Provisions from S. 631 were in included in the Senate Finance Committee’s health-care reform bill by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
Read the full text of S. 1821, the Elder Abuse Victims Act of 2009.
