79R4083 YDB-D
By: Crownover H.B. No. 790
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the equipment and employees necessary for the conduct
of newborn screening by the Department of State Health Services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Chapter 33, Health and Safety
Code, is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 33. PHENYLKETONURIA, OTHER HERITABLE DISEASES, [AND]
HYPOTHYROIDISM, AND CERTAIN OTHER DISORDERS
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 33, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 33.004 to read as follows:
Sec. 33.004. EQUIPMENT AND EMPLOYEES. The department
shall obtain the use of equipment, including tandem mass
spectrometers, and hire employees necessary to administer this
chapter.
SECTION 3. Section 33.011(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a)(1) The physician attending a newborn child or the person
attending the delivery of a newborn child that is not attended by a
physician shall subject the child to screening tests approved by
the department for phenylketonuria, other heritable diseases,
[and] hypothyroidism, and other disorders for which screening is
required by the department.
(2) The department shall require newborn screening
tests to screen for disorders detectable by a tandem mass
spectrometer and listed in the core uniform panel of newborn
screening conditions recommended in the 2004 report by the American
College of Medical Genetics entitled "Newborn Screening: Toward a
Uniform Screening Panel and System" or another report determined by
the department to provide more appropriate newborn screening
guidelines to protect the health and welfare of this state's
newborns.
SECTION 4. Section 33.014(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) If, because of an analysis of a specimen submitted under
Section 33.011, the department reasonably suspects that a newborn
child may have phenylketonuria, another heritable disease, [or]
hypothyroidism, or another disorder for which the screening tests
are required, the department shall notify the person who submits
the specimen that the results are abnormal and provide the test
results to that person. The department may notify one or more of
the following that the results of the analysis are abnormal and
recommend [that] further testing when [is] necessary:
(1) the physician attending the newborn child or the
physician's designee;
(2) the person attending the delivery of the newborn
child that was not attended by a physician;
(3) the parents of the newborn child;
(4) the health authority of the jurisdiction in which
the newborn child was born or in which the child resides, if known;
or
(5) physicians who are cooperating pediatric
specialists for the program.
SECTION 5. Section 33.031(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) All newborn children and other individuals under 21
years of age who have been screened, have been found to be
presumptively positive through the newborn screening program for
phenylketonuria, other heritable diseases, hypothyroidism, or
another disorder for which the screening tests are required, and
may be financially eligible may be referred to the department's
services program for children with special health care needs.
SECTION 6. Section 33.032(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Within the limits of funds available for this purpose
and in cooperation with the individual's physician, the department
may provide services directly or through approved providers to
individuals of any age who meet the eligibility criteria specified
by board rules on the confirmation of a positive test for
phenylketonuria, other heritable diseases, [or] hypothyroidism, or
another disorder for which the screening tests are required.
SECTION 7. Not later than June 1, 2006, the Department of
State Health Services shall obtain the use of nine tandem mass
spectrometers and employ full-time employees to expand the newborn
screening program under Chapter 33, Health and Safety Code, as
amended by this Act.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.