<p>U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) is tired of waiting for Congress to pass an elder abuse law. However, his opinion isn’t shared by enough legislators because there still is no law in the United States to deal with the exploitation of the elderly.</p>
<p>The Elder Justice Act, pending before the Senate Finance Committee, would be the first federal legislation dealing with elder abuse.</p>
<p>The Auburn (N.Y.) Citizen reported 8,693 cases of elder abuse were reported last year in New York state. But the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging said 80 percent of elder abuse cases are unreported.</p>
<p>With baby boomer nearing senior-citizen status, Schumer said abuse of the elderly likely will increase and federal legislation would be needed to monitor the problem and assist states in devising health care programs.</p>
<p>Mark Miller, the New York state long-term care ombudsman with the New York State Office for the Aging, said passage of the Elder Justice Act would provide up to $163 million for training to monitor and report elder abuse.</p>
<p>“It has a huge amount of money in it,” Miller said of the act before Congress. “It is going to provide us with some additional resources to better investigate abuse in facilities.”</p>
<p>The Elder Justice Act also would combine law enforcement agencies and health care services in studying, detecting, treating, prosecuting and preventing abuse. An Elder Research Center would be created to centralize research, collect data on negligent health care facilities and raise public and professional awareness.</p>
<p>Currently, New York has two laws that deal with abuse.</p>
<p>Kathy's Law increases penalties for caregivers found guilty of injuring incompetent or physically disabled adults over 60. The Family Protection and Domestic Violence Intervention Act requires medical staff to give the Victim's Rights Notice to anyone who has been abused or is suspected of being abused domestically.</p>
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