State Rep. Maureen Madden (D-115th District) has introduced legislation to protect older adults from scams and financial exploitation, and the bill is being co-sponsored by several Northwest Philadelphia politicians, including state Rep. Tarik Khan (D-194th District) and state Rep. Andre Carroll (D-201st District).

House Bill 1611 aims to revamp the Older Adults Protective Services Act, which was passed in 1987. According to Carroll, this revision is much needed, as scams and fraud techniques have evolved with technology.

“It’s been almost 40 years since we have updated this,” Carroll said. “I’m excited to be able to be a part of a bill that would update such an outdated version.”

The bill was approved by the Aging and Older Adult Services committee in June and is currently in the House.

If passed, the bill would establish a uniform statewide reporting and investigative system for suspected abuse of the elderly. Key provisions include mandatory reporting requirements for financial institutions that suspect a senior is being scammed, and stricter penalties for individuals convicted of scamming older adults. The legislation also will allow financial institutions to temporarily pause suspicious transactions and provide whistle-blower protections for those who report abuse.

“In average Joe terms, it’s basically increasing the likelihood that abuse of older adults will be reported,” Khan told the Local.

For Khan, a healthcare worker, one part of the bill stood out.

“The part of it that is most intriguing for me is the provision that mandates reporting in hospitals,” Khan said. “Basically, anyone who is working with patients that suspects older-adult abuse must report it. …That has been something that I was made aware of about eight years ago at a healthcare conference … and I learned that Pennsylvania and New York had some of the weakest provisions in terms of protecting older adults in hospitals.”

Carroll said protecting seniors from fraud has been important to him throughout his career.

“Seniors are a big population in my district, so there’s a big interest to make sure we’re protecting the folks who live here,” Carroll said. “In the two years [since Carroll was elected], we’ve done a number of senior fraud presentations, and this is some work that started for me when I was in the Philadelphia City Controller’s office and we did senior fraud presentations there as well.”

Khan agrees that these protections are vital for older adults.

“It’s infuriating that some people are seeing our older adults as easy victims, and they’re going after them and robbing them of their life assets, their nest eggs, the things that are keeping them afloat,” Khan said. “It’s just the lowest level of depravity to go after vulnerable people, and so we intend to do everything that we can on the state level to protect our older adults.”

This is not the only legislation Khan is working on concerning older adults and scams. He is currently working on a bipartisan bill with state Rep. Brian Rasel (R-56th District) that would allow victims of a scam to deduct a finite amount from their taxes as restitution.

Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.