EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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.
State courts have jurisdiction to appoint fiduciaries to protect individuals who are adjudicated as "incompetent." State courts, however, are not monitoring or adequately monitoring the activities of those fiduciaries, who are left free to misuse, misapply, or manipulate the law for their own self-enrichment.
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.
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.
State courts have jurisdiction to appoint fiduciaries to protect individuals who are adjudicated as "incompetent." State courts, however, are not monitoring or adequately monitoring the activities of those fiduciaries, who are left free to misuse, misapply, or manipulate the law for their own self-enrichment.
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.