Senator Joey Hensley, MD

New laws target elder abuse and protect vulnerable adults

Caring for aging adults is an essential aspect of fostering a compassionate and functioning society. Every year in the General Assembly we make improvements to our laws to better protect vulnerable populations in Tennessee – including elderly adults. As life expectancy increases due to advancements in healthcare, more individuals are living longer, which makes elder care an even more pressing issue. And unfortunately, there are bad actors who seek to take advantage of elderly adults. Below are some of the newest laws in our state to protect and care for elderly and vulnerable adults.

Protecting elderly and disabled adults from financial exploitation

We continued our efforts this year to help families protect elderly and disabled adults from financial exploitation. This year a new law removes the financial and beneficiary rights of a surviving spouse if the spouse is found by a court to have entered into a marriage in a deceptive or financially exploitative manner.

Unfortunately, sometimes bad actors enter into marriage with a vulnerable or aging adult with the sole intent of financially benefiting from the death of that vulnerable adult. This is cruel and hurtful to the surviving family who has been by the side of their aging relative. In Tennessee, this new law creates a pathway for families to challenge these types of situations in the court of law.

Under the new law, the victim’s family must prove that the surviving spouse entered into the marriage as part of a scheme involving neglect, sexual abuse, financial exploitation, abuse or theft.

Encourage reporting of elder abuse

To help fight elder abuse, lawmakers passed legislation this year requiring district attorneys to provide confidentiality for those who report information regarding elder abuse. Under the law, those who come forward can still be interviewed, but their identity will be protected. The legislation also clarifies these individuals’ information must be reported to the district attorney from adult protective services. This will help DAs go after abusers by encouraging citizens with knowledge of abuse to come forward.

Support for nursing home residents

In the General Assembly we also approved legislation this year to provide additional financial support for long-term nursing home residents in Tennessee. The new law increases the personal needs allowance for residents from $50 to $70 per month. Previous state law allowed Medicaid-eligible individuals receiving long-term care in a nursing home to deduct a portion of their income to use on personal needs with the remainder being applied to the cost of their care. This change isn’t going to give residents a lot of extra spending money, but the hope is that it will help provide dignity by giving folks more control and options.

Improving access to adult changing tables in public

Another new law increases the availability of public adult-sized changing tables in Tennessee. The measure allows the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to increase grant amounts from $5,000 to $10,000 to support the installation of powered, height-adjustable, adult-sized changing tables in public restrooms statewide. The law also allows for the creation of an ad-hoc committee to advise and assist with grant applications. The General Assembly in 2022 allocated $1 million in state funding to expand the availability of adult-sized changing tables in public restrooms in Tennessee.

Increasing access to wheelchair repairs

Tennessee lawmakers passed legislation this year ensuring that simple, non-clinical repairs can be made independently to wheelchairs without voiding its warranty. Previously, wheelchair repairs were required to be performed by an authorized technician with their supplier, or the warranty could be voided. The process could be time-consuming and prevent users from going to work or being out in the community. The law also allows for annual preventative maintenance visits to be conducted by a wheelchair supplier.

In Tennessee we honor and respect our elderly and vulnerable adults. We want to do all that we can to ensure they can live their lives with dignity. We are continually working on this issue, so please reach out to me if you have any issues or concerns regarding elder abuse.