Pennsylvania lawmakers hear push to modernize Older Adults Protective Services Act, expand bank ‘report-and-hold’ powers and ease background-check burdens for a

Harrisburg — Lawmakers on the House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee heard bipartisan testimony urging a comprehensive rewrite of Pennsylvania’s Older Adults Protective Services Act (Act 79 of 1987) to fix a Commonwealth Court ruling, broaden mandatory reporting, and add tools to prevent financial exploitation of seniors.

Advocates said the modernization should include a narrowly drawn “report-and-hold” mechanism allowing financial institutions to delay suspicious transactions briefly while protective-services workers and law enforcement investigate, along with stronger information‑sharing and training for banks, care providers and older adults.

AARP Pennsylvania state advocacy director Theresa Osborne told the committee that parts of chapter 5 of OPSA were found unconstitutional on Dec. 30, 2015, and that “the debate and discussion has to end” so the General Assembly can craft a durable fix. “The North Star has been that the original intent of Act 79 of 1987 … is to ensure that older Pennsylvanians, those aged 60 years of age and older, who are at imminent risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or abandonment, have access to and be provided with services necessary to protect their health, safety, and welfare,” Osborne said.

Osborne, representi…