Monday, July 8, 2019

Two New Articles to Add to Your Reading List

Professor Tara Sklar emailed me to let me know of the publication of two new articles. Her first, Preparing to Age in Place: The Role of Medicaid Waivers in Elder Abuse Prevention appears in 28 Annals of Health Law 195 (2019) and is also available on SSRN.

Here is the abstract

Over the last three decades, there has been a steady movement to increase access to aging in place as the preferred long-term care option across the country. Medicaid has largely led this effort through expansion of state waivers that provide Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) as an alternative to nursing home care. HCBS include the provision of basic health services, personal care, and assistance with household tasks. At the time of this writing, seven states have explicitly tailored their waivers to support aging in place by offering HCBS solely for older adults, individuals aged 65 and over. However, there is growing concern about aging in place contributing to greater risk for social isolation, and with that increased exposure to elder abuse. Abuse, neglect, and unmet need are highly visible in an institutional setting and can be largely invisible in the home without preventative measures to safeguard against maltreatment. This article examines the seven states with Medicaid HCBS waivers that target older adults, over a 36-year period, starting with the first state in 1982 to 2018. We conducted qualitative analysis with each waiver to explore the presence of safeguards that address risk factors associated with elder abuse. We found three broad categories in caregiver selection, quality assurance, and the complaints process where there are notable variations. Drawing on these findings, we outline features where Medicaid HCBS waivers have the potential to mitigate risk of elder abuse to further support successful aging in place.

The second article, Elderly Gun Ownership and the Wave of State Red Flag Laws: An Unintended Consequence That Could Help Many will be published in the Elder Law Journal. It is currently available on SSRN here.

Here is the abstract

There is rising concern among health professionals and in legal circles to address gun ownership for older adults who display signs of cognitive decline, including dementia. However, elderly gun ownership remains underexamined, partly because incidents of gun violence among the elderly tend to occur in domestic settings and are much less visible than shootings in public areas. In contrast, there is widespread attention to curb mass gun violence through state legislation. Specifically, red flag laws, also known as Extreme Risk Protection Orders, have doubled in 2018 with thirteen states enacting red flag laws and over thirty states having introduced or planning to introduce this legislation. Although red flag laws were not intended to address elderly gun ownership, they uniquely apply where other gun control laws fall short, as red flag laws provide the legal process to temporarily remove access to guns for persons believed to be at an elevated risk of harming themselves or others.

This Article surveys the thirteen states that have enacted red flag laws and analyzes key legislative elements across these states. The state laws have notable variations, including authorized persons who can petition a court for a protection order, standard of proof requirements, and the length of time an order is in effect. These variations have implications for elderly gun owners and their families, particularly in how they relate to the climbing rates of cognitive decline, suicide in late life, and elder abuse. The current wave of red flag laws across the country offer an opportunity to provide greater awareness around elderly gun ownership and prevent crises from becoming tragedies.

I was particularly interested in this second piece, because we recently offered a webinar at Stetson for elder law attorneys on dementia and gun ownership.  Information about the webinar and how to order an audio download are available here.

Congrats Professor Sklar and thanks for letting us know about your articles!

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/elder_law/2019/07/two-new-articles-to-add-to-your-reading-list.html

Cognitive Impairment, Consumer Information, Current Affairs, Dementia/Alzheimer’s, Federal Statutes/Regulations, Health Care/Long Term Care, Medicaid, Programs/CLEs, State Statutes/Regulations | Permalink

Comments

This is an interesting article on red flag laws and their impact on states. Bashar H. Malkawi

Posted by: Bashar H. Malkawi | Jul 18, 2019 2:18:39 PM

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