EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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.
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.