Authorized Discount Card Vendors in Texas (Source: Medicare)
Information on Medicare Discount Cards
Information on the "Texas Cares" Program
Consumer Protection
Crime Prevention
Health & Safety
Advance Planning
Resources

The Consumer Protection Division focuses its efforts on:

• The advertising and sale of insurance and retirement-oriented investments, financial planning services, estate planning and legal services directed at senior Texans;
• The advertising and sale of home improvements, medical devices and other services and products that target seniors; and
• Telemarketing and mail fraud aimed at senior citizens.

CRIME PREVENTION FOR SENIORS. Through conferences, publications and presentations to groups around our state, the Office of the Attorney General educates Texas seniors about crime prevention, elder abuse, consumer fraud and crime victims' compensation.

HEALTH & SAFETY FOR SENIORS. The Office of the Attorney General seeks to protect senior Texans and other health-care service consumers from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The Office of the Attorney General receives referrals from client agencies to pursue civil actions against long-term care facilities and to investigate incidents for criminal prosecution. The AG's Consumer Protection & Public Health Division takes civil legal action to ensure quality treatment in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home health agencies. The AG's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigates and refers to prosecutors cases involving abuse, neglect or exploitation in Medicaid-funded facilities.

Abuse includes involuntary seclusion, intimidation, humiliation, harassment, threats of punishment, deprivation, hitting, slapping, pinching, kicking, any type of corporal punishment, sexual assault, sexual coercion, sexual harassment, verbal abuse, or any oral, written, or gestured language that includes disparaging or derogatory terms, regardless of the person's ability to hear or comprehend.

Neglect means the failure of a caretaker to provide the goods or services, including medical services, which are necessary to avoid physical or emotional harm or pain.

Exploitation includes a caretaker's using the resources of a senior for monetary or personal benefit, profit, or gain. Seniors may need help with their finances, but unless they hand control over to another person, they have the same right as anyone else to receive, spend, invest, save, or give away their money. A family member, "friend," or nursing home may not take control of a senior's money without that person's permission. Also, a resident of a nursing home or other facility may review all of his or her records. This includes medical, nursing, financial, social, contractual, and legal records. These records may not be released without the individual's permission, except when required by law or when the resident is transferred to another facility.

If you suspect a problem, discuss the matter with the nursing home, assisted living facility, or home health agency administrator. If you are aware of a specific act of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, you are required by law to report it. If the victim is in a nursing home or assisted living facility, or is in his or her home and using a home health agency, call the Department of Aging and Disability Services at 1-800-458-9858. Otherwise, call The Department of Family and Protective Services at 1-800-252-5400.

If a person complains about poor care, or if a family member speaks up about poor conditions at a facility, it is a violation of the law for the nursing home or any of its employees to intimidate or retaliate in any way against the resident or the family. A nursing home must have an effective procedure for receiving complaints and for responding to those complaints.

Seniors may need help with their finances, but unless they hand control over to another, they have the same right as anyone else to receive, spend, invest, save, or give away their money. If a family member, "friend," or nursing home takes control of a senior's money without that person's permission - you should call the Adult Protective Services or a private attorney for advice.

A resident of a nursing home or other facility may review all of his or her records. This includes medical, nursing, financial, social, contractual, and legal records. These records may not be released without the individual's permission, except when required by law or when a resident is transferred to another facility

ADVANCE PLANNING. Texas law provides a number of ways for individuals to ensure that their wishes are carried out in the event they become incapacitated due to Alzheimer's Disease or other health conditions. Various standard forms can provide direction for medical professionals and family members who may have to make critical decisions regarding treatment, resuscitation, the disposition of property, and other matters. Although it is advisable for an individual to consult an attorney when planning for the future, certain forms are available to anyone, and when properly completed, they are legally valid. Some useful forms are:

• The Medical Power of Attorney -- used to designate a person who can make decisions for someone who is incapacited.
• The Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates -- can prohibit or authorize the use of life-prolonging treatments when a person's condition is terminal or irreversible.
• The Out-of-Hospital Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) -- instructs emergency medical personnel and other health care professionals to forego resuscitation measures.

Information about the Medical Power of Attorney, the Directive and other advance planning documents is available on the Alzheimer's Program section of the Texas Department of Health's Web site. More information about the DNR is available from the EMS section of TDH's Web site. The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services also provides all three forms, to be downloaded and/or printed.

A Durable Power of Attorney gives another person the authority to make personal and financial decisions on your behalf. A durable power of attorney can cover all aspects of your personal and financial affairs, or may be limited to specific situations and activities. You should consult with an attorney when preparing a durable power of attorney, to ensure that it accurately reflects your wishes and needs. Click here for more information from the Texas Legal Services Center's Legal Hotline for Older Texans.

A living trust is created while you are alive, and is a legal arrangement which often is used to allow another person to assist you in managing your assets during your lifetime and to distribute your assets after you die. As the "grantor," you transfer ownership of your property and other assets to the trust, which is administered by a "trustee" for the "beneficiary's" benefit. You may serve as the grantor, the trustee, and the beneficiary of the trust, or you may name another person or an institution (such as a bank) to serve as trustee for you. After you die, a successor trustee named by you will distribute the assets of the trust. Assets held by the trust are not subject to probate. A living trust is different from a "living will" (now called a "directive to physicians and family or surrogates), which expresses your health care wishes about being kept alive or not if you are seriously injured or terminally ill.

Whether a living trust is an appropriate estate planning tool depends on your personal financial situation, health condition and goals. For example, living trusts are often appropriate for someone who is facing a serious incapacity like Alzheimer's. You should discuss the benefits and drawbacks with accountants, attorneys and financial planners who are experienced in this area and whom you trust before taking any action. Beware of scams that exaggerate the benefits of a living trust or that falsely claim a local attorney will prepare the documents. Some living trust offers are a ruse to gain access to your personal financial information or promote the sale of other financial services. The State Bar of Texas Web site has more information on living trusts and consumer scams associated with them.

RESOURCES. If you have a consumer complaint, you can call the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Hotline at (800) 621-0508. You can also download the consumer complaint form from the main consumer page on this Web site. You may also fill out an On-Line Consumer Complaint form.

To complain about a nursing home, assisted living facility, or home health agency, call the Department of Aging and Disability Services Hotline at (800) 458-9858.

To report Medicaid provider fraud, abuse or neglect of a Medicaid recipient, contact the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit:

• Telephone: (512) 463-2011
• Fax: (512) 320-0974
• E-mail: mfcu@oag.state.tx.us

If you suspect that an elderly or disabled person is being abused, neglected, or exploited and is in immediate danger, call 911 or local law enforcement. Or call the Department of Family and Protective Services, 24-hour toll-free abuse hot line at (800) 252-5400.

The Texas Legal Services Center has a legal hotline for older Texans (800-622-2520). They also have a website at www.tlsc.org.