|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the establishment and implementation of school-based |
|
influenza vaccination programs. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. (a) The Department of State Health Services and |
|
the Texas Education Agency shall conduct a joint study of |
|
school-based influenza vaccination programs. |
|
(b) The Texas Immunization Stakeholder Working Group shall |
|
establish within the working group a subcommittee composed of |
|
representatives from: |
|
(1) the Texas Pediatric Society; |
|
(2) the Texas Academy of Family Physicians; |
|
(3) the Texas Medical Association; |
|
(4) the Texas Association of School Administrators; |
|
(5) the Texas Association of School Boards; |
|
(6) the Texas School Nurses Organization; and |
|
(7) an entity with knowledge of best practices for the |
|
effective use of state and local public health resources based on |
|
information from other states that have implemented school-based |
|
influenza vaccination programs. |
|
(c) Members of the Texas Immunization Stakeholder Working |
|
Group subcommittee shall make recommendations to the Department of |
|
State Health Services and the Texas Education Agency regarding: |
|
(1) the design of the survey instrument used to |
|
collect data from schools with an influenza vaccination program |
|
under Subsection (d)(2) of this section; and |
|
(2) the content of the report required under |
|
Subsection (e) of this section. |
|
(d) The Department of State Health Services and the Texas |
|
Education Agency shall: |
|
(1) identify school districts in this state in which a |
|
school-based influenza vaccination program has been conducted on or |
|
after September 1, 2006; |
|
(2) collect relevant data related to the programs, |
|
including, when available: |
|
(A) how an influenza vaccine was purchased or |
|
obtained; |
|
(B) a comparison of how insured and uninsured |
|
students were managed under the program; |
|
(C) the costs associated with administering the |
|
program; |
|
(D) for each school year that the program was |
|
administered, the number of students, by grade level, that: |
|
(i) were vaccinated, refused the vaccine, |
|
or were not vaccinated; and |
|
(ii) were enrolled in the school district; |
|
(E) the number of school faculty and staff |
|
vaccinated; |
|
(F) student absentee rates during a school year |
|
that the school district: |
|
(i) administered a program; and |
|
(ii) did not administer a program; |
|
(G) the number of schools that closed due to |
|
influenza or influenza-like illness and the number of days that |
|
each school was closed; |
|
(H) the nature and degree of involvement in the |
|
implementation of a program of: |
|
(i) a public health department; |
|
(ii) other community resources; or |
|
(iii) private health care providers; and |
|
(I) whether the vaccinations were reported to the |
|
immunization registry maintained by the Department of State Health |
|
Services under Section 161.007, Health and Safety Code; |
|
(3) identify best practices of a school district that |
|
implemented a school-based influenza vaccination program; and |
|
(4) identify barriers encountered by a school district |
|
that implemented a school-based influenza program and how the |
|
barriers were overcome. |
|
(e) Not later than December 1, 2010, the Department of State |
|
Health Services and the Texas Education Agency shall submit to the |
|
governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of |
|
representatives, and presiding officer of each standing committee |
|
of the legislature with jurisdiction over the department and the |
|
agency a jointly written report, based on the study, that evaluates |
|
the feasibility of implementing an annual statewide school-based |
|
influenza vaccination program and that includes: |
|
(1) an analysis of the costs and benefits of |
|
implementing school-based influenza vaccination programs; |
|
(2) identification of barriers to implementing |
|
school-based influenza vaccination programs and recommendations |
|
for removing those barriers; |
|
(3) a projection of the fiscal impact of implementing |
|
a statewide school-based influenza vaccination program; |
|
(4) an analysis of the impact of the programs studied |
|
on private practice physicians and health care providers who |
|
administer influenza vaccinations in this state, based on the |
|
programs studied; |
|
(5) an analysis of the impact of a statewide |
|
school-based influenza vaccination program on private practice |
|
physicians and health care providers who administer influenza |
|
vaccinations in this state and recommendations for how to overcome |
|
any barriers; and |
|
(6) the role of public health departments and |
|
community resources in the administration of school-based |
|
influenza vaccination programs. |
|
SECTION 2. This Act expires September 1, 2011. |
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
|
|
|
* * * * * |