Victories for Elder Law & Advocacy

By Richard Bockoff, Lead Partner

For the last 30 years Elder Law & Advocacy has been winning small victories for many of San Diego’s low income, frail and vulnerable seniors. Recent victories include:

• A super fast reversal of a mistaken government reduction in the monthly check paid to our 66-year-old client. Without EL&A’s help, she would have been without enough money to live on during the 12 months before the issue was reconsidered.
  
• EL&A prevented a 73-year-old renter from being evicted by showing the landlord that she was protected by a special provision in Federal law.
  
• EL&A persuaded a contractor to refund $961 to an 83-year-old client for work the contractor never finished.
  
• EL&A helped a 66-year-old who was getting billed for cell phone service she did not have. An 82-year-old male resident was getting billed for thousands of dollars in long distance calls he never made. With EL&A’s help, the telephone companies to correct both mistakes.
  
• A client was denied HMO coverage for his $75,000 emergency hospitalization. EL&A showed it would have been dangerous for him to be transported to the HMO’s more distant hospital, and his bill was paid.
  
• EL&A helped an 86-year-old women win the right to spend more of her own ample money to move to a nicer skilled nursing home against the wishes of some of her children.

Nursing home abuse and neglect as well as the financial abuse and neglect of our aging population is rampant. Elder Law & Advocacy is trying to make more of a community impact through the addition of a Nursing Home Rights Enforcement Project and a Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program. Both programs have the capacity to really make an impact and a difference for seniors.

With SDSVP’s assistance, Elder Law & Advocacy hopes to become financially sustainable by focusing more of their attention on significant litigation that is likely to have an impact on a state wide level. By creating an annual plan and outcome measurements, EL&A is committed to establishing a countywide communications program to distribute information about elder issues to low income seniors, healthcare providers, senior residence organizations and Bar Association. Ultimately EL&A would love to expand its services into legislative and administrative advocacy improving elder laws for all seniors.

All are lofty goals. We are thrilled for the opportunity afforded EL&A through the SDSVP grant.