A Review of "Emergency" Guardianships:
The Medicaid crisis grows more critical every day and threatens our recovering economy. Rather than government concentrating on eliminating Medicaid fraud and making the system more efficient, the people fear government’s efforts to plug the Medicaid drain will cause them reduction of services.
Although various state attorneys general are now pursuing actual provider fraud more vigorously, another gaping hole exists, allowing billions of dollars of loss to the economy and although well known, remains unplugged and flowing freely.
The legislative intent of state protective statutes is to:
Operating the proceedings as a profit-making enterprise under color of law, the court-appointed fiduciaries can financially deplete a ward’s estate, create a false indigence, and leave the ward’s lifetime Medicaid care to the taxpayers, even though the protective statutes are supposed to prevent the ward from becoming a public charge.
Simply put, without total monitoring and oversight, the states’ “protective” plans can be operated like “The Protection Racket.”
We are asking Congress to deal with misuse of the “protective” statutes because:
The Medicaid crisis grows more critical every day and threatens our recovering economy. Rather than government concentrating on eliminating Medicaid fraud and making the system more efficient, the people fear government’s efforts to plug the Medicaid drain will cause them reduction of services.
Although various state attorneys general are now pursuing actual provider fraud more vigorously, another gaping hole exists, allowing billions of dollars of loss to the economy and although well known, remains unplugged and flowing freely.
The legislative intent of state protective statutes is to:
- GUARD the protected person from harming him/herself or anyone else;
- CONSERVE the person’s assets (with prudent investments); and
- PROTECT the taxpayers from the ward becoming a public charge.
Operating the proceedings as a profit-making enterprise under color of law, the court-appointed fiduciaries can financially deplete a ward’s estate, create a false indigence, and leave the ward’s lifetime Medicaid care to the taxpayers, even though the protective statutes are supposed to prevent the ward from becoming a public charge.
Simply put, without total monitoring and oversight, the states’ “protective” plans can be operated like “The Protection Racket.”
We are asking Congress to deal with misuse of the “protective” statutes because:
- 50 states with 50 different sets of laws have long failed to protect their citizenry from unlawful and abusive guardianships and conservatorships, despite numerous studies, meetings, and hearings over the years;
- Federal rights and protections are being ignored by state-court judges;
- Federal funds are involved; and
- Baby Boomers, turning 65 this year, constitute 28% of our population today.
The Fleecing of Medicaid and the American Taxpayers
It is not just Medicaid fraudsters who are filing claims with government and cheating the taxpayers. Exploited guardianships are a direct and growing menace to the health and wealth of our vulnerable elderly and disabled – and to our nation’s economy!
The “conserve” directive of guardianship law is all but totally ignored in a growing number of courts across the country. Judges, the ultimate decision makers and protectors of wards of the state, fail to monitor their appointed fiduciaries and guardian cases adequately, permitting unethical guardians to deplete their wards’ assets by means of excessive, exorbitant and even fraudulent fee billings for legal, administrative or nonexistent “services.”
Without meaningful oversight by court administrators and strong law and enforcement by the legislative and executive branches, previously ample estates can be systematically “protected” into indigence. The guardians then place these wards on Medicaid for the remainder of their lives – leaving the American taxpayers holding the bag.
This appalling practice is not Medicaid fraud per se. It is, however, an unaddressed breach of fiduciary duty, resulting in an unforeseen and improper load on the Medicaid system and an unlawful burden on the American taxpayers who are supposed to be protected against this very thing happening – a primary purpose of the “protective” statutes.
Additionally, the excessive cost of needlessly supporting individuals who don’t belong on Medicaid threatens those persons without adequate assets who need essential Medicaid services, which are now jeopardized by threatened budget cuts during our country’s economic crisis.
Read More: “An Open Letter to Congress and the White House -3”
It is not just Medicaid fraudsters who are filing claims with government and cheating the taxpayers. Exploited guardianships are a direct and growing menace to the health and wealth of our vulnerable elderly and disabled – and to our nation’s economy!
The “conserve” directive of guardianship law is all but totally ignored in a growing number of courts across the country. Judges, the ultimate decision makers and protectors of wards of the state, fail to monitor their appointed fiduciaries and guardian cases adequately, permitting unethical guardians to deplete their wards’ assets by means of excessive, exorbitant and even fraudulent fee billings for legal, administrative or nonexistent “services.”
Without meaningful oversight by court administrators and strong law and enforcement by the legislative and executive branches, previously ample estates can be systematically “protected” into indigence. The guardians then place these wards on Medicaid for the remainder of their lives – leaving the American taxpayers holding the bag.
This appalling practice is not Medicaid fraud per se. It is, however, an unaddressed breach of fiduciary duty, resulting in an unforeseen and improper load on the Medicaid system and an unlawful burden on the American taxpayers who are supposed to be protected against this very thing happening – a primary purpose of the “protective” statutes.
Additionally, the excessive cost of needlessly supporting individuals who don’t belong on Medicaid threatens those persons without adequate assets who need essential Medicaid services, which are now jeopardized by threatened budget cuts during our country’s economic crisis.
Read More: “An Open Letter to Congress and the White House -3”
Boomers Beware of Guardianship Abuse
Boomers Beware of Conservatorship Abuse
PICTURE THIS: A knock on the door – the police are there to forcibly take you from your home – in handcuffs if you protest! You don’t know why; you’re not a criminal! By the time you find out what’s going on, you’re no longer in control of your life, liberty or property; and you have not been served with any legal documents of any kind!
That – and more – happened to NASGA member Danny Tate, a young and vibrant musician/composer in his ‘50s. When he was finally served with a notice to come to court on a later date, he had no control over his assets, could not hire a lawyer, and the judge refused to give him any adjournment to get help! The conservatorship – built on fraud by his estranged older brother and brother’s lawyer – and aided and abetted by the judge, devoured his $2.5 million estate and plunged him into debt. The conservator made sure the lawyers were paid, but breached fiduciary duty by not paying Tate’s obligations, including his child support payments, and home and health insurance. When Tate complained in open court that the conservatorship harmed him, the judge admonished and shut him down.
Similarly frightening scenes play out all across the country today: the beginning of a potentially lengthy and emotionally, financially, and physically draining nightmare, which can leave the victims pauperized, drugged to death, or in inadequate Medicaid facilities at taxpayer expense.
This growing profit industry, milked by professionals and nonprofit organizations alike, is operated under color – and cover – of law, ironically described as “protective” statutes and commonly known as “guardianship” and/or “conservatorship proceedings.”
Welcome to “The Protection Industry.”
You’re on the victim list if you don’t know your rights and don’t learn how to protect yourself against this growing menace which feeds on greed.
Read More:
Boomers Beware of Guardianship Abuse
and
Boomers Beware of Conservatorship Abuse
Boomers Beware of Conservatorship Abuse
PICTURE THIS: A knock on the door – the police are there to forcibly take you from your home – in handcuffs if you protest! You don’t know why; you’re not a criminal! By the time you find out what’s going on, you’re no longer in control of your life, liberty or property; and you have not been served with any legal documents of any kind!
That – and more – happened to NASGA member Danny Tate, a young and vibrant musician/composer in his ‘50s. When he was finally served with a notice to come to court on a later date, he had no control over his assets, could not hire a lawyer, and the judge refused to give him any adjournment to get help! The conservatorship – built on fraud by his estranged older brother and brother’s lawyer – and aided and abetted by the judge, devoured his $2.5 million estate and plunged him into debt. The conservator made sure the lawyers were paid, but breached fiduciary duty by not paying Tate’s obligations, including his child support payments, and home and health insurance. When Tate complained in open court that the conservatorship harmed him, the judge admonished and shut him down.
Similarly frightening scenes play out all across the country today: the beginning of a potentially lengthy and emotionally, financially, and physically draining nightmare, which can leave the victims pauperized, drugged to death, or in inadequate Medicaid facilities at taxpayer expense.
This growing profit industry, milked by professionals and nonprofit organizations alike, is operated under color – and cover – of law, ironically described as “protective” statutes and commonly known as “guardianship” and/or “conservatorship proceedings.”
Welcome to “The Protection Industry.”
You’re on the victim list if you don’t know your rights and don’t learn how to protect yourself against this growing menace which feeds on greed.
Read More:
Boomers Beware of Guardianship Abuse
and
Boomers Beware of Conservatorship Abuse
Judicially Sanctioned Financial Exploitation of Vulnerable Elderly
and Disabled Citizens by Non-Family Court-Appointed Fiduciaries
The recent MetLife study\1/ on the comprehensive subject of elder abuse once again focuses on theft by family members rather than by court-appointed fiduciaries\2/ who too freely liquidate entire estates by means of exorbitant or fraudulent billings and proceedings.
The cold reality is that keeping the focus and the spotlight on families\3/ enables the continued milking of the helpless by “professionals” appointed by the courts to protect them. How can MetLife and others almost completely overlook this entire category of elder abuse? How can Congress continue to ignore it, especially after GAO’s\4/ September 2010 report\5/ clearly substantiating this growing problem?
NASGA has addressed guardianship\6/ abuse by fiduciaries in three previous white papers to Congress and the White House\7/; yet, when any legislator has come forward to champion the cause of guardianship reform and propose legislation, the focus of said reform continues to concentrate on family members as guardians and is limited to suggestions of grants for certification, training, background checks – none of which addresses the growing threat of professional for-profit and “not-for-profit” fiduciaries freely bleeding their victims into indigence and onto Medicaid, at the expense of the currently unsuspecting taxpayers.
—————-
[1] “Elder Financial Abuse: Crimes of Occasion, Desperation, and Predation Against America’s Elders,” June 2011,http://www.metlife.com/mmi/research/elder-financial-abuse.html
[2] Nonfamily members, court-appointed guardians and attorneys .
[3 ] NASGA acknowledges that sadly, and perhaps more than ever due to the current economic conditions, some families do financially exploit and abuse their vulnerable elderly and/or disabled through misuse of powers of attorney and other financial controls or even in guardianships and conservatorships, while fiduciary abuse has become an actual industry. We applaud media’s growing attention to the general category of “elder abuse” and increasing response of various state legislators.
[4] Government Accountability Office
[5] “Guardianships – Cases of Financial Exploitation, Neglect, and Abuse of Seniors,” September 2010,http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d101046.pdf
[6] ”Guardianship,” as used here, is meant to include conservatorship.
[7] “Reform of Unlawful and Abusive Guardianships and Conservatorships and Abuse by Courts and Fiduciaries”http://www.AnOpenLetterToCongress.info;
“A Review of Unlawful ‘Emergency’ Guardianships,” http://www.AnOpenLetterToCongress-2.info; and “The Fleecing of Medicaid and theTaxpayers, http://www.AnOpenLetterToCongress-3.info
Read More: AnOpenLetterToCongress-4.info
and Disabled Citizens by Non-Family Court-Appointed Fiduciaries
The recent MetLife study\1/ on the comprehensive subject of elder abuse once again focuses on theft by family members rather than by court-appointed fiduciaries\2/ who too freely liquidate entire estates by means of exorbitant or fraudulent billings and proceedings.
The cold reality is that keeping the focus and the spotlight on families\3/ enables the continued milking of the helpless by “professionals” appointed by the courts to protect them. How can MetLife and others almost completely overlook this entire category of elder abuse? How can Congress continue to ignore it, especially after GAO’s\4/ September 2010 report\5/ clearly substantiating this growing problem?
- “Most of the allegations we identified involved financial exploitation and misappropriation of assets. Specifically, the allegations point to guardians taking advantage of wards by engaging in schemes that financially benefit the guardian but are financially detrimental to the ward under their care. Also, the allegations underscore that the victim’s family members often lose their inheritance or are excluded by the guardian from decisions affecting their relative’s care.”
NASGA has addressed guardianship\6/ abuse by fiduciaries in three previous white papers to Congress and the White House\7/; yet, when any legislator has come forward to champion the cause of guardianship reform and propose legislation, the focus of said reform continues to concentrate on family members as guardians and is limited to suggestions of grants for certification, training, background checks – none of which addresses the growing threat of professional for-profit and “not-for-profit” fiduciaries freely bleeding their victims into indigence and onto Medicaid, at the expense of the currently unsuspecting taxpayers.
—————-
[1] “Elder Financial Abuse: Crimes of Occasion, Desperation, and Predation Against America’s Elders,” June 2011,http://www.metlife.com/mmi/research/elder-financial-abuse.html
[2] Nonfamily members, court-appointed guardians and attorneys .
[3 ] NASGA acknowledges that sadly, and perhaps more than ever due to the current economic conditions, some families do financially exploit and abuse their vulnerable elderly and/or disabled through misuse of powers of attorney and other financial controls or even in guardianships and conservatorships, while fiduciary abuse has become an actual industry. We applaud media’s growing attention to the general category of “elder abuse” and increasing response of various state legislators.
[4] Government Accountability Office
[5] “Guardianships – Cases of Financial Exploitation, Neglect, and Abuse of Seniors,” September 2010,http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d101046.pdf
[6] ”Guardianship,” as used here, is meant to include conservatorship.
[7] “Reform of Unlawful and Abusive Guardianships and Conservatorships and Abuse by Courts and Fiduciaries”http://www.AnOpenLetterToCongress.info;
“A Review of Unlawful ‘Emergency’ Guardianships,” http://www.AnOpenLetterToCongress-2.info; and “The Fleecing of Medicaid and theTaxpayers, http://www.AnOpenLetterToCongress-3.info
Read More: AnOpenLetterToCongress-4.info