Bill 401.

Summary.

The bill amends Law 86 of November 18, 2010 to establish the Special Economic Assistance Program for Adults Aged Sixty-Five or Older Without a Retirement Benefit or Pension, in Poverty or Extreme Poverty. It places the Program under the Ministry of Social Development (Ministerio de Desarrollo Social) and also calls it Programa B/. 120.00 a los 65. Assistance would fund medicines and food. An executive secretariat would administer the Program and implement supervision, audit and sanction mechanisms whose functions would be set out in regulations. The Ministry would annually conduct and publish an assessment of whether poverty and extreme poverty among older adults had declined. The bill also revises the definition of legal representative: a person designated to administer the funds would register in the Program’s national register, meet suitability requirements and account for the funds every six (6) months.

To identify beneficiaries, the Ministry would compile an official register through authorized personnel. Its sources would include the Vulnerability Census of the Opportunities Network (Censo de Vulnerabilidad de la Red de Oportunidades), voluntary registration, records gathered by community boards in hard-to-reach corregimientos (districts), and information on retirement benefits, pensions, property and accounts. Named sources include the Social Security Fund (Caja de Seguro Social), Public Registry of Panama (Registro Público de Panamá), National Charity Lottery (Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia), Land Transit and Transportation Authority (Autoridad del Tránsito y Transporte Terrestre), Panama Maritime Authority (Autoridad Marítima de Panamá), Ministry of Agricultural Development (Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario), Ministry of Commerce and Industries (Ministerio de Comercio e Industrias), Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas), National Land Administration Authority (Autoridad Nacional de Administración de Tierras), municipalities and banks. Older applicants listed in the census would only need to complete registration, without an initial check of their circumstances. Registration would be free and accompanied by an information form and identity-card copy. An applicant with limited mobility could be registered by a legal representative or authorized person. A representative would establish cohabitation through a residence certificate from the Electoral Tribunal (Tribunal Electoral) or the competent Community Peace Justice House (Casa de Justicia Comunitaria de Paz). The State would prioritize social assessments and admission based on poverty; diagnoses issued by State health institutions would establish health conditions.

To retain assistance, beneficiaries would attend annual health checkups and update their monitoring cards. The competent authority would verify compliance, and failure to comply could affect payment. Participation in guidance and skills activities would count toward continued eligibility under the shared-responsibility criteria. A representative or authorized person could attend when a beneficiary has a documented health reason; where the beneficiary cannot travel, the State would provide health access and supervision through outreach visits, prioritizing home care. If death occurs during payment dates, a legal representative could receive the transfer for the month of death under the regulatory procedure, upon submitting a death certificate and evidence of medical and funeral expenses.

Assistance would be personal, nontransferable, protected from attachment and free from deductions. Where a beneficiary cannot collect it, a registered legal representative or authorized person would administer the funds solely for that beneficiary’s medicines and food. Mismanagement established through due process would lead to suspension and replacement within no more than two months. Specified improper uses would suspend assistance, and a reporting hotline would receive information on deaths or suspected misuse. Assistance would end upon death, improper or repeated misuse, repeated noncompliance with requirements after notice and an opportunity to correct it, or fraud. A representative would report a death; the Electoral Tribunal would send monthly death lists, which the Ministry would compare with beneficiary records quarterly.

The bill adds to the Criminal Code misuse of State assistance by a representative as a circumstance of elder abuse, and appropriation, diversion or misuse of those resources as conduct constituting abuse. It provides penalties according to the conduct, the victim’s disability, negligence and serious harm caused. The named public bodies would take part in registration, supervision, health services, death verification and criminal enforcement; older adults, their representatives, health providers, banks and institutions managing pensions or asset information could be affected or interested.