HB 1202 — An Act amending Title 35 (Health and Safety) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, establishing and providing for duties of the Infectious Disease Advisory Commission.

PRINTER'S NO.   1350

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                         HOUSE BILL
                         No. 1202
                                                Session of
                                                  2025

     INTRODUCED BY ZIMMERMAN, STAMBAUGH, KRUPA AND KUZMA,
        APRIL 15, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, APRIL 15, 2025


                                     AN ACT
 1   Amending Title 35 (Health and Safety) of the Pennsylvania
 2      Consolidated Statutes, providing for long-term infectious
 3      disease control.
 4      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 5   hereby enacts as follows:
 6      Section 1.    Title 35 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
 7   Statutes is amended by adding a chapter to read:
 8                                CHAPTER 58A
 9                    LONG-TERM INFECTIOUS DISEASE CONTROL
10   Sec.
11   58A01.   Definitions.
12   58A02.   Response to emergency.
13   58A03.   Inspection and review.
14   58A04.   Facilities.
15   § 58A01.   Definitions.
16      The following words and phrases when used in this chapter
17   shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless
18   context clearly indicates otherwise:
 1      "Advanced emergency medical technician."          An advanced
 2   emergency medical technician as defined in section 8103
 3   (relating to definitions).
 4      "Commission."      The Infectious Disease Advisory Commission
 5   established under section 58A02(f) (relating to response to
 6   emergency).
 7      "Department."      The Department of Health of the Commonwealth.
 8      "Disaster emergency."         A declaration by the Governor of a
 9   disaster emergency under section 7301(c) (relating to general
10   authority of Governor) relating to public health.
11      "Emergency medical technician."          An emergency medical
12   technician as defined in section 8103.
13      "Facility."       Any of the following:
14          (1)    Domiciliary care as defined in section 2202-A of the
15      act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), known as The
16      Administrative Code of 1929.
17          (2)    A personal care home as defined in section 1001 of
18      the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), known as the Human
19      Services Code.
20          (3)    An assisted living residence as defined in section
21      1001 of the Human Services Code.
22          (4)    Any of the following entities as defined in section
23      802.1 of the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known as
24      the Health Care Facilities Act:
25                 (i)    Home care agency.
26                 (ii)    Home care registry.
27                 (iii)    Home health care agency.
28                 (iv)    Hospice.
29                 (v)    Long-term care nursing facility.
30          (5)    An older adult daily living center as defined in

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 1      section 2 of the act of July 11, 1990 (P.L.499, No.118),
 2      known as the Older Adult Daily Living Centers Licensing Act.
 3          (6)   A PACE provider as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 1395eee(a)
 4      (3) (relating to payments to, and coverage of benefits under,
 5      programs of all-inclusive care for elderly (PACE)).
 6          (7)   Any other public or private organization, entity or
 7      part of a private organization or entity, that uses public
 8      funds and is paid, in part, to provide care to care-dependent
 9      individuals.
10      "Infectious disease coordinator."     An employee of the
11   facility designated to implement the infectious disease plan
12   required under section 58A04 (relating to facilities).
13      "Organization."   An organization that supplies or
14   manufactures personal protective equipment.
15      "Paramedic."   A paramedic as defined in section 8103.
16      "Personal protective equipment" or "PPE."     Gloves, hand
17   sanitizer, respirators, face masks, gowns, face shields and
18   other protective equipment designed to be worn or used by
19   individuals to prevent or contain contact with, or to prevent
20   transmission of, a communicable illness or the pathogens that
21   cause communicable illness.
22      "Plan" or "infectious disease plan."     The infectious disease
23   plan required under section 58A04(a).
24      "PPE stockpile" or "stockpile."     The PPE stockpile
25   established under section 58A02(b).
26      "Recipient."   An individual who receives care, services or
27   treatment in or from a facility.
28      "Relative."    An individual who is related within the fifth
29   degree of consanguinity or affinity to a recipient in a
30   facility.

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 1   § 58A02.    Response to emergency.
 2      (a)     Selection of organization.--The Governor, or the
 3   Governor's designee, shall select an organization, by
 4   competitive bid, for successive terms of five years each to
 5   oversee the procurement, manufacturing and distribution of PPE
 6   in this Commonwealth.
 7      (b)     Duties of selected organization.--The organization
 8   selected under subsection (a) shall perform the following
 9   duties:
10             (1)   Purchase and keep up-to-date a stockpile of PPE to
11      be used by a facility in the event of a disaster emergency in
12      accordance with subsection (c).
13             (2)   Select three manufacturers of PPE from which the
14      organization shall procure PPE.
15             (3)   Contract with manufacturers of PPE to provide PPE to
16      facilities within this Commonwealth and supply the PPE
17      stockpile under paragraph (4). A manufacturer must be
18      domiciled and manufacture PPE in this Commonwealth in order
19      to be eligible for a contract under this paragraph.
20             (4)   Determine four locations within this Commonwealth to
21      store PPE as follows:
22                   (i)    One-fourth of the stockpile shall be located in
23             the northwest area of this Commonwealth.
24                   (ii)    One-fourth of the stockpile shall be located in
25             the northeast area of this Commonwealth.
26                   (iii)   One-fourth of the stockpile shall be located
27             in the southwest area of this Commonwealth.
28                   (iv)    One-fourth of the stockpile shall be located in
29             the southeast area of this Commonwealth.
30      (c)     Required amount of PPE.--The amount of PPE stored in the

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 1   stockpile shall be determined by the Governor, or the Governor's
 2   designee, the first year. For each subsequent year, the PPE
 3   stored in the stockpile shall equal the amount of PPE purchased
 4   the previous year at a minimum, but may not be more than
 5   quadruple the volume.
 6      (d)   Funding of stockpile.--The stockpile shall be funded by
 7   a 50% fee on purchased PPE until the required amount of PPE
 8   stored in the stockpile under subsection (c) is met. For
 9   subsequent PPE stored in the stockpile, the fee shall be reduced
10   to 7% to fund the stockpile operations. Facilities shall
11   purchase all PPE from the organization. The amount that each
12   facility purchases is the amount that will be available to the
13   facility during a disaster emergency.
14      (e)   Access to PPE.--A facility, advanced emergency medical
15   technician, emergency medical technician or paramedic may access
16   the stockpile to obtain the PPE purchased by the facility for
17   the stockpile during a disaster emergency.
18      (f)   Infectious Disease Advisory Commission.--
19            (1)   The Governor shall establish the Infectious Disease
20      Advisory Commission.
21            (2)   The commission shall be composed of the following
22      members:
23                  (i)    The Secretary of Aging or a designee.
24                  (ii)    The Secretary of Health or a designee.
25                  (iii)    The Secretary of Human Services or a designee.
26                  (iv)    Six members knowledgeable and experienced in
27            issues relating to operations in facilities as follows:
28                         (A)   Three members of the Senate, appointed by
29                  the President pro tempore of the Senate, in
30                  consultation with the Majority Leader of the Senate

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 1                  and the Minority Leader of the Senate.
 2                        (B)   Three members of the House of
 3                  Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the
 4                  House of Representatives, in consultation with the
 5                  Majority Leader of the House of Representatives and
 6                  the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
 7                  (v)   Three members appointed by the Governor as
 8            follows:
 9                        (A)   One member shall be a member of the general
10                  public.
11                        (B)   One member shall be a member of an
12                  organization who is directly involved in managing a
13                  facility.
14                        (C)   One member shall be a member of an advocacy
15                  or services organization who is directly involved in
16                  providing services to older adults.
17            (3)   The commission shall meet as necessary, but no fewer
18      than three times within the first 90 days of the disaster
19      emergency.
20            (4)   The commission shall be responsible for examining
21      and analyzing the practices, processes and procedures
22      relating to the prevention of and response to infectious
23      diseases in facilities.
24            (5)   The commission shall develop best practices on
25      disease prevention, education, training requirements and any
26      other operations that may be altered for facilities during a
27      disaster emergency.
28   § 58A03.    Inspection and review.
29      (a)     Inspections and surveys.--The department, in
30   consultation with the Department of Human Services, shall:

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 1            (1)   Review and align all facility inspections and
 2      surveys conducted by each department with best practices for
 3      reducing the spread of infectious diseases.
 4            (2)   Determine the priority order for inspecting or
 5      surveying facilities during an infectious disease outbreak.
 6            (3)   Determine a list of protocols for inspection and
 7      intervention.
 8      (b)   Regulation review.--The Governor shall submit a report
 9   to the General Assembly reviewing all regulations for
10   facilities. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the
11   following:
12            (1)   An outline of the regulations for facilities.
13            (2)   A comparison of the regulations for facilities that
14      existed prior to a declaration of a disaster emergency and
15      any regulations that were suspended or altered during the
16      state of disaster emergency.
17            (3)   An executive summary of the differences between the
18      regulations for facilities as determined under paragraph (2).
19      (c)   Data reporting.--The department, in consultation with
20   the Department of Human Services, shall develop a single
21   reporting system for facilities to submit new cases and
22   information that the department determines necessary during a
23   disaster emergency.
24      (d)   Sample infectious disease plan.--The department, in
25   consultation with the Department of Human Services, shall
26   develop and make available on the department's publicly
27   accessible Internet website a sample infectious disease plan for
28   a facility to implement. The model infectious disease plan shall
29   fulfill the requirement under section 58A04(a) (relating to
30   facilities). At a minimum, the infectious disease plan shall

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 1   include:
 2             (1)   The data reporting requirements under subsection
 3      (c).
 4             (2)   A mechanism for complaints or feedback regarding the
 5      infectious disease plan.
 6             (3)   A method to obtain a one-year supply of PPE from the
 7      organization under section 58A02(a) (relating to response to
 8      emergency).
 9             (4)   A method to cohort recipients within the facility.
10             (5)   A method to screen each employee before the
11      employee's shift begins.
12             (6)   A schedule that assigns staff to certain areas of
13      the facility.
14             (7)   A notification system to alert relatives of
15      recipients in the facility of the measures the facility is
16      taking to prevent and respond to the communicable disease or
17      virus.
18   § 58A04.    Facilities.
19      (a)     Infectious disease plan.--Each facility shall develop an
20   infectious disease plan to implement upon the declaration of a
21   disaster emergency. At a minimum, the infectious disease plan
22   shall include the requirements listed under section 58A03(d)
23   (relating to inspection and review). Nothing in this subsection
24   shall be construed to prevent a facility from taking additional
25   measures to prevent and respond to an infectious or communicable
26   disease during a disaster emergency.
27      (b)     Infectious disease coordinator.--Each facility shall
28   designate an employee to serve as the infectious disease
29   coordinator within the facility during a disaster emergency to
30   ensure that the infectious disease plan requirements under

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1   subsection (a) are met.
2      Section 2.   This act shall take effect in 60 days.




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