| HB 717 - Newborns; advisory committee; screenings |
First Reader Summary
A BILL to amend Chapter 1 of Title 31 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding
health, so as to provide for legislative findings and intent; to
establish an advisory committee on newborn infants and provide
for its selection, compensation, powers, qualifications, and
duties; and for other purposes.
| House |
Action |
Senate |
| 2/22/99 |
Read 1st Time |
|
| 2/23/99 |
Read 2nd Time |
|
HB 717 LC 11 9799/1
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1- 1 To amend Chapter 1 of Title 31 of the Official Code of
1- 2 Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding
1- 3 health, so as to provide for legislative findings and
1- 4 intent; to establish an advisory committee on newborn
1- 5 infants and provide for its selection, compensation, powers,
1- 6 qualifications, and duties; to require newborn screening of
1- 7 newborn infants under certain condition and for education of
1- 8 parents and guardians regarding the importance of such
1- 9 screening and early identification and intervention; to
1-10 provide for hospital and other reports; to provide for
1-11 rules; to require the provision of information and encourage
1-12 cooperative efforts; to provide an effective date; to repeal
1-13 conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
1-14 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
1-15 SECTION 1.
1-16 Chapter 1 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia
1-17 Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding health,
1-18 is amended by adding after Code Section 31-1-3.1 a new Code
1-19 section to read as follows:
1-20 "31-1-3.2.
1-21 (a) The General Assembly finds, determines, and declares:
1-22 (1) That hearing loss occurs in newborn infants more
1-23 frequently than any other health condition for which
1-24 newborn infant screening is required;
1-25 (2) That 80 percent of the language ability of a child
1-26 is established by the time the child is 18 months of age
1-27 and that hearing is vitally important to the healthy
1-28 development of such language skills;
1-29 (3) That early detection of hearing loss in a child and
1-30 early intervention and treatment has been demonstrated
1-31 to be highly effective in facilitating a child's healthy
1-32 development in a manner consistent with the child's age
1-33 and cognitive ability;
-1-
2- 1 (4) That children with hearing loss who do not receive
2- 2 such early intervention and treatment frequently require
2- 3 special educational services and that such services are
2- 4 publicly funded for the vast majority of children with
2- 5 hearing needs in the state;
2- 6 (5) That appropriate testing and identification of
2- 7 newborn infants with hearing loss will facilitate early
2- 8 intervention and treatment and may therefore serve the
2- 9 public purposes of promoting the healthy development of
2-10 children and reducing public expenditure;
2-11 (6) The American Academy of Pediatrics has recently
2-12 endorsed the implementation of universal newborn hearing
2-13 screenings and recommended that such screenings be
2-14 performed in all birthing hospitals and coordinated by
2-15 state departments of public health; and
2-16 (7) That consumers should be entitled to know whether
2-17 the hospital at which they choose to deliver their
2-18 infant provides newborn hearing screening.
2-19 (b) For reasons specified in subsection (a) of this Code
2-20 section, the General Assembly determines that it would be
2-21 beneficial and in the best interests of the development of
2-22 the children of the state that newborn infants' hearing be
2-23 screened.
2-24 (c)(1) There is established an advisory committee on
2-25 hearing in newborn infants for the purpose of collecting
2-26 the informational data specified in this Code section
2-27 and reporting such information to the General Assembly
2-28 by December 1 of the first year following the year this
2-29 Code section first becomes effective, and for the
2-30 purpose of providing recommendations to hospitals, other
2-31 health care institutions, the Department of Human
2-32 Resources, and the public concerning, but not limited
2-33 to, the following:
2-34 (A) Appropriate methodologies to be implemented for
2-35 hearing screening of newborn infants, which
2-36 methodologies shall be objective and physiologically
2-37 based and which shall not include a requirement that
2-38 the initial newborn hearing screening be performed by
2-39 persons licensed under Chapter 44 of Title 43, the
2-40 'Georgia State Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
2-41 Licensing Act';
-2-
3- 1 (B) The number of births sufficient to qualify a
3- 2 hospital or health institution to arrange otherwise
3- 3 for hearing screenings; and
3- 4 (C) Guidelines for reporting and the means to assure
3- 5 that identified children received referral for
3- 6 appropriate follow-up services.
3- 7 (2) The advisory committee on hearing in newborn infants
3- 8 shall consist of at least seven members who shall be
3- 9 appointed by the director of the Division of Public
3-10 Health of the Department of Human Resources. Members
3-11 appointed to the committee shall have training,
3-12 experience, or interest in the area of hearing
3-13 conditions in children and at least one of such members
3-14 shall be a parent of a deaf child.
3-15 (3) The members of the advisory committee on hearing in
3-16 newborn infants shall serve without compensation.
3-17 (4) The advisory committee on hearing in newborn infants
3-18 shall meet as often as necessary to collect the
3-19 information necessary and report to the General Assembly
3-20 by December 1 of the first year following the year this
3-21 Code section first becomes effective, to develop and
3-22 make the recommendations specified in paragraph (1) of
3-23 this subsection in a sufficiently timely manner to allow
3-24 for state-wide hearing screening of newborn infants by
3-25 July 1 of the second year following the year this Code
3-26 section first becomes effective, and to make
3-27 recommendations to the department whether and under what
3-28 conditions to require hearing screening pursuant to
3-29 subsection (g) of this Code section.
3-30 (5) This subsection is automatically repealed effective
3-31 July 1 of the fifth year following the year this Code
3-32 section first becomes effective.
3-33 (d) It is the intent of the General Assembly that, by July
3-34 1 of the second year following the year this Code section
3-35 first becomes effective, newborn hearing screening be
3-36 conducted on no fewer that 85 percent of all infants born
3-37 in hospitals in this state, using procedures recommended
3-38 by the advisory committee on hearing in newborn infants,
3-39 created in subsection (c) of this Code section. Toward
3-40 that end, on and after July 1 of the first year following
3-41 the year this Code section first becomes effective, every
3-42 licensed or certified hospital shall educate the parents
3-43 of infants born in such hospitals of the importance of
-3-
4- 1 screening the hearing of newborn infants and follow-up
4- 2 care. Education shall not be considered a substitute for
4- 3 the hearing screening described in this subsection. Every
4- 4 licensed or permitted hospital shall report annually to
4- 5 the Department of Human Resources concerning the
4- 6 following:
4- 7 (1) The number of infants born in the hospital;
4- 8 (2) The number of infants screened;
4- 9 (3) The number of infants who passed the screening, if
4-10 administered; and
4-11 (4) The number of infants who did not pass the
4-12 screening, if administered.
4-13 (e) The advisory committee on hearing in newborn infants
4-14 shall determine which hospitals or other health care
4-15 institutions in this state are administering newborn
4-16 hearing screening to newborn infants on a voluntary basis
4-17 and the number of infants screened. The advisory
4-18 committee on hearing in newborn infants shall report to
4-19 the General Assembly by December 1 of the first year
4-20 following the year this Code section first becomes
4-21 effective concerning the following:
4-22 (1) The number of hospitals and other health care
4-23 institutions administering such voluntary screenings;
4-24 (2) The number of newborn infants screened as compared
4-25 to the total number of infants born in such hospitals
4-26 and institutions;
4-27 (3) The number of infants who passed the screening, if
4-28 administered; and
4-29 (4) The number of infants who did not pass the
4-30 screening, if administered.
4-31 (f) Subject to available appropriations, the advisory
4-32 committee on hearing in newborn infants shall make the
4-33 report described in subsection (e) of this Code section
4-34 available throughout the state and specifically available
4-35 to physicians whose practice includes the practice of
4-36 obstetrics or the care of newborn infants, to consumer
4-37 groups, to managed care organizations, and to the media.
4-38 (g) If the number of infants screened does not equal or
4-39 exceed 85 percent of all infants born in hospitals in this
4-40 state by July 1 of the second year following the year
-4-
5- 1 this Code section first becomes effective or falls below
5- 2 85 percent at any time thereafter, the Department of Human
5- 3 Resources, after consultation with the advisory committee
5- 4 in hearing in newborn infants, shall promulgate rules and
5- 5 regulations requiring hearing screening of newborn infants
5- 6 pursuant to Code Section 31-2-4, to achieve the 85 percent
5- 7 standard. Such rules and regulations shall include,
5- 8 without being limited to, the conditions and procedures
5- 9 under which a parent or guardian of a child may object to
5-10 and thereby exempt the child from such screening for
5-11 religious reasons. Such rules and regulations shall
5-12 address those hospitals with a low volume of births, as
5-13 determined by the Department of Human Resources based upon
5-14 recommendations by the advisory committee on hearing in
5-15 newborn infants, which may arrange otherwise for newborn
5-16 infant hearing screening.
5-17 (h) A physician, nurse, certified midwife, or other health
5-18 professional attending a birth outside a hospital or
5-19 institution shall provide information, as established by
5-20 the department, to parents regarding places where the
5-21 parents may have their infants' screening and the
5-22 importance of such screening.
5-23 (i) The department shall encourage the cooperation of
5-24 local health departments, health care clinics, school
5-25 districts, and any other appropriate resources to promote
5-26 the screening of newborn infants' hearing and early
5-27 identification and intervention for those determined to
5-28 have hearing loss for those infants born outside a
5-29 hospital or institution."
5-30 SECTION 2.
5-31 This Act shall become effective only when funds are
5-32 specifically appropriated for purposes of this Act in an
5-33 appropriations Act making specific reference to this Act;
5-34 the commissioner of human resources shall not be required to
5-35 enforce any portion of this Act for which funds are not
5-36 specifically appropriated.
5-37 SECTION 3.
5-38 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are
5-39 repealed.
-5-
Clerk of the House
Robert E. Rivers, Jr., Clerk
Last Updated on 02/24/99
