Link to article in Star News
By Jim Boyle
The calls come early in the morning and late into the night. The message is always the same: “We’re going to get our money from you, no matter what you do.”
Michael, a 77-year-old retiree, now grows anxious and fearful whenever his phone rings. He always assumes it’s the debt collectors who have threatened to garnish his Social Security income. He’d suffered a financial setback after retiring and could not pay his bills. Eventually, the debt was turned over to a collection agency, and that’s when the calls started. “When they started to threaten garnishment of my fixed income, I knew I could be in real jeopardy,” Michael said.
Edna, 80, was hounded by a New Mexico-based organization pressuring her to buy common consumer products at inflated prices. “I was told that a portion of the price would go to help poor children,” the grandmother explains. Edna, who suffers from dementia, finally relented, paying $60 for a flimsy $10 ironing board cover. “My mother is very vulnerable and living on a fixed income,” explained Edna’s daughter, “and she has a hard time saying no to someone.”
Betty, an 80-year-old who still works part-time as a real estate agent, kept getting calls from a political organization claiming she owes them a promised donation. “I never donate over the phone,” Betty said. “When you tell them you didn’t ever make or promise a donation, they continue on with their script, and when you tell them not to call you back, they keep talking until you are forced to hang up on them. It’s so frustrating; drives me to distraction.”
Faced with living on a fixed income and an ever-rising cost of living, many seniors spend the “golden years” juggling bills and battling debt collectors and schemes that target them through their telephones.
In many cases, older adults are subjected to wrongful debt collection tactics. No one should be forced to accept illegal collection tactics, and collectors should not be allowed to exploit vulnerable seniors for profit.
Senior solutions
It’s important to know that Social Security is exempt from collection, something most seniors don’t know and debt collectors won’t tell them.
Seniors can stop the harassment by filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (www.consumerfinance.gov) and their state’s Attorney General Office. The CFPB reports debt collection is the top complaint for older Americans, with medical debt collection representing 52 percent of collection accounts.
For Minnesota seniors struggling with medical debt, Senior Community Services’ Senior Partners Care program is a great solution unknown to many seniors. Senior Community Services has partnered with hundreds of hospitals, clinics and providers statewide. These health care providers have agreed to consider waiving all or part of the health care debt owed by qualifying seniors.
The decision to waive certain medical debt is made based on a determination of the senior’s financial needs. To qualify for Senior Partners Care, Minnesota seniors must receive care by participating medical providers, must have Medicare A & B, meet income and asset thresholds, and submit an application and a modest annual fee. For more information, visit www.seniorcommunity.org or call 888-541-5488.
Older adults — our friends, loved ones and neighbors — deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Let’s Reimagine Aging to better the lives of those we hold most dear.
— Deb Taylor (Editor’s note: Taylor is CEO of Senior Community Services, www.seniorcommunity.org, and its Reimagine Aging Institute, a nonprofit that advocates for older adults and helps seniors and caregivers maintain their independence through free or low-cost services. )
