Box 1

Requires hospitals to educate consumers about their admission status when being treated in a non-emergency room setting. Act No. 169.

Updates the Older Adults Protective Services Act to specifically address issues pertaining to criminal background checks and denial of employment in certain circumstances.

Establishes a statewide registry of perpetrators of abuse in facilities.

Grants civil and criminal immunity to financial advisors who report possible financial exploitation, fiduciary abuse, or fraud of a senior citizen.

Establishes the Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Program and provides for the powers and duties of the Department of Aging to administer the program.

Increases the exemption for total death benefits from $5,000 to $10,000 when calculating income eligibility for the Property Tax and Rent Rebate program.

Makes it mandatory for care facilities who utilize fossil fuel heating sources which emit carbon monoxide as a byproduct of combustion to install carbon monoxide alarms in their facilities.

Requires the State Attorney General's office to notify the Department of Aging, on a monthly basis, of any investigations and enforcement actions taken within the purview of the Pennsylvania Telemarketer Registration Act when those investigations and enforcement actions involve a consumer who is 60 years of age or older.

Directs the Joint State Government Commission to study the Commonwealth's delivery system of long-term care services and supports for independent and care-dependent older adults and to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly. A copy of the report is housed in this file.

Directs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study of the existing network of elder abuse task forces in the Commonwealth and to assess the feasibility of expanding the network statewide.