Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 1921 amends provisions of the Health and Safety Code relating to the immunization registry maintained by the Texas Department of Health for children younger than 18 years of age. The bill requires written consent for a child's inclusion in the registry only once. It provides for the term of validity of the consent and prohibits the department from retaining certain personally identifiable information if consent has been withdrawn. House Bill 1921 establishes procedures relating to the submission by health care providers or certain insurers of data elements about a vaccination, rather than the complete immunization history. The bill requires the department to verify consent before including information in the immunization registry and establishes other procedures for the administration of the registry. The bill authorizes health care providers to use information from the registry to provide notice that a child is overdue for immunization. The bill makes it a Class A misdemeanor to fail to exclude a child's immunization record if consent is not granted. The bill takes effect June 20, 2003, except for provisions relating to providers and insurers submitting data elements of vaccinations to the department, which take effect January 1, 2005.