2019 -- H 5541 SUBSTITUTE A AS AMENDED

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

     Introduced By: Representatives McNamara, Shanley, Solomon, Bennett, and Jackson

     Date Introduced: February 27, 2019

     Referred To: House Health, Education & Welfare

     (Dept. of Health)

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 23-1-18 and 23-1-44 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-1 entitled

"Department of Health" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     23-1-18. Power to provide rules and regulations in specific areas.

     Without limiting the generality of § 23-1-17, the rules and regulations relating to

sanitation and health provided for by § 23-1-17 may include:

     (1) Provisions fixing responsibilities of owners, operators, and occupants of land or

buildings for the sanitary condition, maintenance, use, and occupancy of the land and buildings.

     (2) Minimum standards with respect to the reporting of any disease and the quarantine of

persons affected by that disease.

     (3) Minimum standards and conditions for the location, construction, and sanitary quality

of all drinking water supplies.

     (4) Minimum standards for facilities and sanitary conditions for schools and the health

care for school children.

     (5) Minimum standards with respect to the maintenance and operation of food businesses.

     (6) Minimum standards of air quality consistent with human health.

     (7) Minimum standards consistent with human health for the quality of the waters of the

state.

     (8) Minimum standards consistent with human health for the quality of public drinking

water.

     (9) Minimum standards for immunization and testing for communicable diseases,

including, but not limited to, tuberculosis, of employees, children, and students at any child day-

care center, family day-care home, private nursery school, any other regular program providing

educational services to preschool-aged children, public or private school, college, or university.

     (10) Provisions requiring the reporting of immunization status and any other relevant

information that the director determines appropriate for all persons under the age of eighteen (18)

years for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a childhood an immunization registry,;

provided, however, that the information collected by the department for the immunization registry

will only include data elements nationally endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention to meet standards for immunization information systems, and that all personally

identifiable information obtained pursuant to this section shall be subject to the provisions of

chapter 37.3 of title 5 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub.

L. No. 104-191 (HIPAA), as amended. Any person may opt out of and choose to remove his or

her information from the immunization registry by contacting the department directly by phone or

by submitting a form online which shall be made available on the department's website.

     (11) Provisions requiring the reporting of inventories and sales of drugs, devices and

other products potentially related to the outbreak of disease. All information acquired under this

subsection by the department of health is confidential and not subject to public access pursuant to

chapter 2 of title 38.

     23-1-44. Routine childhood and adult immunization vaccines.

     (a) The department of health shall include in the department's immunization program

those vaccines for routine childhood immunization as recommended by the Advisory Committee

for Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and for routine adult

influenza immunization as recommended by the ACIP, to the extent permitted by available funds.

The childhood immunization program includes administrative and quality assurance services and

KIDSNET the Rhode Island Child and Adult Immunization Registry (RICAIR), a confidential,

computerized child health information system that is used to manage statewide immunizations, as

well as other public health preventive services, for all children persons in Rhode Island from birth

through age 18.

     (b) The director of the department of health shall appoint an advisory committee that will

be convened after the ACIP makes a recommendation regarding adult immunization. The

committee will review the ACIP recommendations for the state, assess the vaccine cost and

feasibility, and advise the director of health and the office of the health insurance commissioner

regarding insurers and providers acting on the ACIP adult immunization recommendation. All

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recommendations will be posted on the department of health website. The advisory committee

membership shall include, but not be limited to, a primary care provider, pharmacist,

representatives of the nursing home industry, the home health care industry and major insurers.

     (c) For the purpose of protecting patients' information, all personally-identifiable

information obtained pursuant to this section shall be subject to the privacy protections of chapter

37.3 of title 5 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. L. No.

104-191 (HIPAA), as amended.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

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     This act would expand the requirement that the department of health promulgate

provisions requiring the reporting of immunization status and any other relevant information for

all persons, not just children, for the purposes of establishing an immunization registry. All

information collected shall only include data elements nationally endorsed by the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, and would allow an individual to opt out if they so choose. This

act would also require the department of health to include routine adult immunization in the

department’s immunization program.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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