An Act amending Title 20 (Decedents, Estates and Fiduciaries) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in health care, further providing for applicability, for definitions, for criminal penalties, for definitions, for orders, bracelets and necklaces, for revocation, for absence of order, bracelet or necklace and for emergency medical services, repealing provisions relating to advisory committee and providing for discontinuance and for Pennsylvania orders for life-sustaining treatment; and making an editorial change.

HB 1254 clarifies and updates Pennsylvania's laws regarding advance health care directives, specifically strengthening the legal framework for "Pennsylvania orders for life-sustaining treatment" (POLST) and out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders. The bill adds criminal penalties for falsifying, forging, or tampering with these documents, or for concealing a patient's revocation of them. It also specifies that emergency medical services must follow valid POLST or DNR orders when present, providing standard care only when no such order exists. This directly affects patients with advance directives, their families, and health care providers who must comply with these legal documents.