A New Option for the Elderly

Aging inmates straining prison system

What do you do if you are old, don't have children to take care of you, and are too poor for a decent nursing home?  After reading the above article, I think that I am going to add becoming a criminal to my list of of options.

The ACLU estimates that the US prison system spends $72,000 on elderly inmates annually.  This includes walkers, medications, and the salaries for 24 hour medical staffing.  The accommodations, though not on par with Embassy Suites, seem far better than what most nursing homes.

This is the description given of one such special prison ward:  "The building is one story and has wooden walls and wide doors to accommodate wheelchairs. There is a microwave oven, a shuffleboard table and a weight room in the common area."

One inmate in the article discusses watching cooking and travel shows on his television, which leads me to believe he has cable.  Furthermore, inmates sleep in wide-open hospital-style rooms, minus the bars and lack of windows usually associated with a prison.
 
The prisoners interviewed for the story seem to have no illusions about how good they have it, considering they are serving time for crimes ranging from murder to rape.  One put it bluntly:  "I'd be a burden on my kids. . .I'd rather be a burden to these people."

By "these people" he is inadvertently referring to the American tax payers.  Many states are studying ways to lessen this costly burden.  One option is to release terminally ill patients to hospitals.  But, this type of early release program has several hurdles to overcome, not least of which is financial.  The patient/inmate would need to be able to afford the medical care, which is rarely a possibility.

I have no misconceptions about how miserable prison life is, even for the folks in these special wards.  The food is atrocious, the rooms are small, and, most of all, you have no freedom to leave.  But if I ever reach the point in my life when I am alone, broke, and sick I may consider stealing that Jaguar at the dealership down the street.
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10/27
Probe shows court-appointed guardians often not screened or monitored  (CNN, by Jen Christensen, 10/27/2010)

Court-appointed legal guardians are not being pre-screened, or monitored for abusive behavior.

"An investigation by the Government Accountability Office found allegations of abuse by legal guardians in 45 states and the District of Columbia"

Most of the cases involved stealing from the elderly, like the one quoted below.

"In one case in Missouri, a former taxi driver and convicted bank robber was appointed the legal guardian of a wealthy customer who had no family. As the elderly man developed Alzheimer's disease, his guardian stole more than $640,000 from him, writing checks out of the victim's estate to pay for exotic dancers and a new Hummer, court records show."

The abuse discovered by the GAO report extended to physical and sexual assaults, as well.  In one case, mentally ill patients were being forced to perform sex acts as part of their "therapy," that was then billed to Medicare.

"The abuse was discovered when children on a school bus reported seeing naked people working on the farm, the GAO report said."

New laws to attempt to reign in these abusive practices are in the works.  But reading this article definitely made me fear getting old alone.  
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6/22/2011
Man robs bank to get medical care in jail  (Yahoo News, by Zachary Roth, 6/21/2011)

It hints to a sad state of affairs when a man chooses to go to prison, just to end his pain.  That is the choice the person in the article above made after losing his job, and developing severely debilitating issues in his limbs and chest. 

The man's plans for the future say a lot about the current state of affairs in America:

"He said he's hoping to receive back and foot surgery, and get the protrusion on his chest treated. Then he plans to spend a few years in jail, before getting out in time to collect Social Security and move to the beach."
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