On June 30th, the Pennsylvania State Legislature passed House Bill 424, allowing for Physician Assistants to certify cause of death and sign death certificates of patients who were under their care. Representative Kerry Benninghoff, (Centre and Mifflin Counties) was the prime sponsor of the legislation. The bill passed unanimously in both chambers. The bill moves on to the Governors desk for signature and will become effective in 60 days from signing. This timing will allow for the vital statistics forms to be updated to include Physician Assistants.
The PSPA would like to thank Representative Benninghoff for his tireless efforts over the past 2 sessions to get the bill introduced and passed. We would also like to thank those of you who contacted your legislator asking for support of the bill. Those efforts are fundamentally key in getting legislation passed.
Follow the link below to read the bill in its entirety:
Learn more about completing a death certificate here.