1Amend Bill, page 1, lines 1 through 3, by striking out all of
2said lines and inserting

3Requiring health care facilities to disseminate information
4relating to pertussis education; and imposing a duty on the
5Department of Health.

6Amend Bill, page 1, lines 6 through 17; pages 2 and 3, lines
71 through 30; page 4, lines 1 through 12, by striking out all of
8said lines on said pages and inserting

9Section 1. Short title.

10This act shall be known and may be cited as the Pertussis
11Education Act.

12Section 2. Purpose of act.

13The purpose of this act is to educate parents of newborn
14infants regarding pertussis disease and the availability of
15vaccination to protect newborn children against pertussis
16disease.

17Section 3. Findings.

18The General Assembly finds as follows:

19(1) Commonly known as whooping cough, pertussis is a
20highly contagious disease that can be prevented by
21vaccination.

22(2) During 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and
23Prevention (CDC) reported an increase in pertussis in the
24majority of states.

25(3) Pennsylvania ranked 13th in the country in the
26incidence of reported cases of pertussis.

27(4) Pennsylvania's incidence of pertussis is higher than
28the national incidence of cases of pertussis.

29(5) Recommended vaccination for children is at 2, 4 and
306 months of age, followed by vaccination at 15 to 18 months
31of age, followed by vaccination when the child enters school
32with the final vaccination when the child is between 11 and
3312 years of age.

34(6) Pertussis can cause very serious illness which can
35be potentially life threatening in infants too young to be

1vaccinated.

2(7) More than half of infants who contract pertussis
3must be hospitalized.

4(8) Of those infants who are hospitalized with
5pertussis, about 1 in 5 will get pneumonia and 1 in 100 will
6die.

7(9) The CDC recommends that families and caregivers of
8newborns be vaccinated at least two weeks prior to coming
9into close contact with a newborn.

10Section 4. Definitions.

11The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
12have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
13context clearly indicates otherwise:

14"Department." The Department of Health of the Commonwealth.

15"Health care facility." As defined in section 802.1 of the
16act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known as the Health Care 
17Facilities Act.

18Section 5. Dissemination of pertussis information by health
19care facilities.

20(a) Options.--A health care facility that provides health
21care services to a pregnant woman, which services are directly
22related to her pregnancy, may provide the woman, and any other
23adult family member present, with educational information on
24pertussis disease and the availability of a vaccine to protect
25against pertussis. The educational information may be provided
26before the woman's discharge after giving birth. Provision in a
27timely manner of publications prepared by the department under
28section 6 shall constitute compliance with this subsection.

29(b) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
30construed as requiring:

31(1) A health care facility to provide or pay for
32vaccination against pertussis.

33(2) A pregnant woman to receive vaccination against
34pertussis.

35Section 6. Informational publications by department.

36The department shall, on the department's publicly accessible
37Internet website, make available to health care facilities
38printable publications that include information on the Centers
39for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations that
40pregnant women, family members and caregivers of infants receive
41vaccination against pertussis to protect their newborns from the
42transmission of pertussis.

43Section 7. Effective date.

44This act shall take effect in 60 days.