The federal government and the states should do more to uncover the severity of elder financial abuse, the Government Accountability Office urges in a report released today.
Comprehensive data on the costs of financial exploitation does not exist, but GAO notes some studies have put it in the billions.
The abuse can undermine the ability of older adults to support and care for themselves, which can negatively affect their health, and shift the burden of caring for them to family members or society in general, GAO warns.
The problem is expected to get worse with the aging of the Baby Boomers. By 2030, more than 20 percent of Americans will be 65 or over compared to 13 percent in 2010.
The study notes when older adults are financially exploited by trusted others (such as family, friends, or guardians) or by strangers, the money is rarely recovered.
Acknowledging a barrier that is commonly voiced by senior citizen advocates in determining the severity of the problem, GAO researchers say state adult protective services officials told them victims often are reluctant to implicate others, especially family members or other caregivers.
Another obstacle is adult protective services caseworkers frequently face challenges obtaining and interpreting financial documents, and may not have access to forensic accountants, who might be able to determine how money has been lost and how it can be recovered.
Additionally, caseworkers told GAO said they often have difficulty acquiring financial records from banks that could help verify the costs of financial exploitation.
“Some financial exploitation cases can be extremely complicated because of multiple accounts, asset transfers, complex annuities, and more,” the study explains.
The study explained elder financial exploitation may take a variety of forms from a caregiver or family member stealing money or medications off a victim’s dresser to charging items for their personal use to a victim’s credit card to a legal guardian withdrawing funds from the victim’s bank account to a scam that entices a victim to share bank information or wire money.
While the dollar figure of elder abuse harm is unknow, more state adult protective offices are reporting the frequency of the exploitation to Washington.
Since they began providing data to the Department of Health and Human Service’s National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System (NAMRS) in 2017 voluntarily, the number of states providing financial exploitation data of any kind has risen from 30 in Fiscal 2016 to 39 in Fiscal 2019.
During the same period, states giving NAMRS detailed financial exploitation case data climbed from 17 to 24.
At the same time, detailed case data on type of perpetrator for all types of abuse rose from 21 to 27.
To uncover the financial toll, GAO is urging HHS’s Administration for Community Living to add cost figures to the NAMRS reports.
The study was requested by Senate Aging Committee Chairman Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Ranking Democrat Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania)
The full 80-page report:
