Senate special aging committee. This is an hour and a half. Good afternoon. It is my great pleasure to call to order the very first hearing of the Senate Special committee on aging. In the 114th congress i have had the honor of being a member of this committee since my very first days in the United States senate and i am delighted to now assume the chairmanship. This is the first time that a maine senator has chaired the committee since the mid1990s when my predecessor and good friend senator bill cohen for whom i worked for 12 years served as the committees chair. Im also pleased to welcome new and returning members to this committee and onto about delighted that my good friend and colleague senator Claire Mccaskill of missouri will service the committees Ranking Member. Senator bill nelson, the former committee chairman, has also chosen to remain a member of this committee and he will continue to share his expertise with us. Throughout its history, the aging committee has spurred con
Financial advisor. Financial exploitation of Older Americans is a growing epidemic that cost seniors an estimated twopoint 9 billion in 2010 according to the gao. In maine a long there are 14,000 new reports each year of senior abuse which includes financial exploitation and in as many as 90 of financial cases the seniors victimized by someone he or she knows well. Many of these cases the victim is too ashamed to report financial exploitation particularly when it involves a Family Member. As a consequence the true incidence of this kind of abuse is not known. Identifying victims of financial exploitation in my state is particularly difficult because we take a lot of pride in our selfsufficiency. Its difficult for many seniors to ask for help. In addition since victims who have had their assets stolen by Family Members typically do not want their relatives to be criminally prosecuted, the stolen money is rarely recovered. Combating Financial Abuse of seniors is primarily the responsibil