Staats Raises Concerns with Proposed Department of Health Regulations

September 23, 2026

HARRISBURG –Rep. Craig Staats (R-Bucks) joined 84 other members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in submitting formal comments raising concerns about the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s proposed rewrite of regulations governing communicable and noncommunicable diseases.

The proposed changes to Chapter 27 of the Pennsylvania Code are contained in a 502-page regulatory package known as Rulemaking #10-242, or IRRC #3490. The department says the proposal is intended to modernize regulations governing disease reporting and control. The proposal remains under regulatory review and is not currently in effect.

“There are some serious questions here about privacy, parental rights and just how much authority we are giving a state agency,” said Staats. “Those questions deserve clear answers before regulations this broad move forward. When government is talking about access to medical information, entering private property or speaking privately with children at school, people have every right to ask where the limits are.”

In their formal comments to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC), Staats and the other lawmakers questioned numerous provisions of the proposal. Their concerns include expanded reporting of immunization information, access to medical records, the authority of health officials to enter certain private locations during disease investigations, private interviews with students for contact tracing or partner services and expanded disease-control authority.

For example, the proposed regulations would generally require immunization administrators outside Philadelphia to report immunizations to the state’s designated information system unless a patient opts out. The lawmakers questioned how patients would be informed of that option and how the information would be used.

The lawmakers also raised concerns about proposed provisions governing disease investigations. Their comments ask the department to clarify the circumstances under which officials could enter private residences and question why the proposed language does not expressly require judicial authorization such as a search warrant. They also objected to language that would allow health authorities conducting contact tracing or partner services to meet privately with students at school.

“I understand the Department of Health needs the tools to protect the public when disease spreads,” said Staats. “There also must be limits on government authority and protections for families and their privacy. Changes this significant deserve careful review and input from the people elected to represent Pennsylvanians.”

The lawmakers asked the department to substantially revise the proposal or withdraw it and develop a new regulatory package in consultation with the General Assembly. Their letter argues that the scope of the proposed changes represents a policy decision significant enough to warrant legislative review.

IRRC lists the proposal as still under review. The commission has not yet issued its comments and a final regulation has not been submitted.

Representative Craig Staats
145th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Will Patterson
267-688-2590
wpatterson@pahousegop.com
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