By Berlanga H.B. No. 3054
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the creation of an immunization registry and to
1-3 reporting requirements concerning immunizations; providing a
1-4 criminal penalty.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 161, Health and Safety
1-7 Code, is amended by adding Sections 161.007, 161.008, and 161.009
1-8 to read as follows:
1-9 Sec. 161.007. IMMUNIZATION REGISTRY; REPORTS TO DEPARTMENT.
1-10 (a) The department, for purposes of establishing and maintaining a
1-11 single repository of accurate, complete, and current immunization
1-12 records to be used in aiding, coordinating, and promoting efficient
1-13 and cost-effective childhood communicable disease prevention and
1-14 control efforts, shall establish and maintain a childhood
1-15 immunization registry. The department by rule shall develop
1-16 guidelines to protect the confidentiality of patients and inform
1-17 parents or a managing conservator or guardian about the
1-18 immunization registry and the opportunity for exemption from the
1-19 registry.
1-20 (b) The immunization tracking registry must contain
1-21 information on the immunization history that is obtained by the
1-22 department under this section of each person who is younger than 18
1-23 years of age.
1-24 (c) An insurance company, a health maintenance organization,
2-1 or another organization that pays or reimburses a claim for an
2-2 immunization of a person younger than 18 years of age shall provide
2-3 an immunization history to the department.
2-4 (d) A health care provider who administers an immunization
2-5 to a person younger than 18 years of age shall submit an
2-6 immunization history to the department unless the immunization
2-7 history is submitted to an insurance company, a health maintenance
2-8 organization, or another organization that pays or reimburses a
2-9 claim for an immunization to a person younger than 18 years of age.
2-10 The report shall be in a format prescribed by the department, which
2-11 may include submission in writing, by electronic means, or by
2-12 voice.
2-13 (e) The department may use the registry to provide notices
2-14 by mail, telephone, personal contact, or other means to a parent,
2-15 managing conservator, or guardian regarding his or her child or
2-16 ward who is due or overdue for a particular type of immunization
2-17 according to the department's immunization schedule. The
2-18 department shall consult with health care providers to determine
2-19 the most efficient and cost-effective manner of using the registry
2-20 to provide those notices.
2-21 (f) Nothing in this section diminishes a parent's, managing
2-22 conservator's, or guardian's responsibility for having a child
2-23 immunized properly.
2-24 (g) A person, including a health care provider, who submits
2-25 or obtains in good faith an immunization history or data to or from
2-26 the department in compliance with the provisions of this section
2-27 and any rules adopted under this section is not liable for any
3-1 civil damages.
3-2 (h) Information obtained by the department for the
3-3 immunization registry is confidential and may be disclosed only as
3-4 provided by Section 161.008 or with the written consent of the
3-5 child's parent, managing conservator, or guardian.
3-6 (i) The board shall adopt rules to implement this section.
3-7 Sec. 161.008. IMMUNIZATION RECORD. (a) An immunization
3-8 record is part of the immunization registry.
3-9 (b) An immunization record contains the:
3-10 (1) name and date of birth of the person immunized;
3-11 (2) dates of immunization;
3-12 (3) types of immunization administered; and
3-13 (4) name and address of the health care provider
3-14 administering the immunization.
3-15 (c) A parent, managing conservator, or guardian may obtain
3-16 on request to the department an exemption to prohibit or restrict
3-17 the release of information under this section. A child's parent,
3-18 managing or possessory conservator, or guardian may require the
3-19 department to withhold the child's immunization record from the
3-20 department's immunization registry by notifying the department in
3-21 writing that the parent, conservator, or guardian elects to exclude
3-22 the child from the registry. The data constituting an immunization
3-23 record may be provided to the department by, or released by the
3-24 department only to, a public health district, a local health
3-25 department, or a physician to the child or to a school or child
3-26 care facility in which the child is enrolled without the consent of
3-27 the child's parent, managing conservator, or guardian if the
4-1 department has not received a request for an exemption.
4-2 (d) A parent, managing conservator, or legal guardian may
4-3 obtain and on request to the department shall be provided with all
4-4 individually identifiable immunization registry information
4-5 concerning his or her child or ward.
4-6 Sec. 161.009. Penalties for Disclosure of Information. (a)
4-7 A person commits an offense if the person:
4-8 (1) negligently releases or discloses immunization
4-9 registry information in violation of Section 161.007 or 161.008; or
4-10 (2) negligently uses the information in the
4-11 immunization registry to solicit new patients or clients or for
4-12 other purposes that are not associated with immunization purposes,
4-13 unless authorized under this section.
4-14 (b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
4-15 SECTION 2. The Texas Department of Health shall evaluate the
4-16 immunization registry established under Section 161.007, Health and
4-17 Safety Code, as added by this Act, two years after its
4-18 implementation date to determine if the immunization registry is
4-19 meeting its stated goals and objectives. The Texas Department of
4-20 Health shall report to the legislature on February 1 of each
4-21 odd-numbered year concerning the maintenance and operation of the
4-22 registry.
4-23 SECTION 3. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
4-24 section, this Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-25 (b) Sections 161.007(c) and 161.007(d), Health and Safety
4-26 Code, as added by this Act, take effect January 1, 1999.
4-27 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.