COVID-19 death reporting caused confusion throughout PA, coroners say. Lawmakers push change
Two Republican state lawmakers voiced support Wednesday for a bill that would require county coroners to investigate all deaths suspected to be part of a pandemic, including COVID-19.
The proposed legislation put forth by state Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair, seeks to remedy sometimes vast discrepancies in reporting deaths attributed to the coronavirus.
The incongruous data created confusion about what constitutes a COVID-19 death and how many people died of the respiratory disease, House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, said.
“Every time that I’ve engaged with the Department (of Health), I express my concerns about the lack of cooperation with the county coroners and the administration’s impeding of their ability to do their job and reflect this accurately,” Benninghoff said. “It is vital that these individuals be called in these types of cases.”
The state Health Department and county coroners have been at odds over how to handle suspected COVID-19 deaths for more than a year.
The state reports deaths by county of residence. That’s different than coroners, who often report deaths based on county of death. The subtle difference is not insignificant.
Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers attributed 180 deaths in the county to COVID-19 as of Tuesday; the state attributed 224 deaths to the disease.
The state also includes deaths attributed by medical professionals to COVID-19, in addition to coroners. Deaths are referred to coroners if a medical professional is not able to certify the death.
Sayers supported the proposed legislation Wednesday. He was joined by the Pennsylvania State Coroners’ Association, which also supported the bill.
“Had the existing coroner’s system been utilized by the Department of Health, there would have been more consistency with the numbers,” Sayers said after taking off a Bald Eagle Area School District mask at the Penn Stater Hotel & Conference Center. “... And no probable estimates.”
Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a similar bill in November.
The measure would have caused delays in the reporting of public health information and could “jeopardize public safety,” the Democratic governor wrote.
Ward acknowledged the new bill is “98% the same” as the one that was rejected, but expressed optimism because the state Health Department is now led by Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam instead of former Health Secretary Rachel Levine.
Benninghoff couldn’t help but smile when asked if he expects another veto.
“I believe the powerful senator from Blair County and myself will do our very best to try to explain (the bill) a little bit better to the governor and hope that he better understands it,” Benninghoff said.