Infant Newborn Screening

Disease control - department of public health and environment - newborn screening - hearing screening - state board of health rules - fees - newborn hearing screening cash fund - reports - appropriations. The act updates the current newborn screening program to require more timely newborn hearing screenings. The department of public health and environment (department) is authorized to assess a fee for newborn screening and necessary follow-up services. The act also creates the newborn hearing screening cash fund in which the fees are to be deposited and used to cover the costs of the program.

The act requires the state board of health to promulgate rules:

• Concerning the requirements of the newborn screening program to screen for genetic and metabolic disorders;
• Requiring entities with information pertinent to newborn screening to report results of individual screenings to the department; and
• To establish and maintain appropriate follow-up services for newborns with positive screening results or who are at risk of hearing loss.

The department must develop and publish materials on its website for education and training on cytomegalovirus and must report to the general assembly, during its annual SMART act presentations, when it adds a condition for which an infant must be tested.

The act appropriates money to the department as follows:

• $700,000 from the information technology capital account in the capital construction fund for use by the center for health and environmental data for an information and technology system for hearing loss screening;
• $1,162,500 from the newborn screening and genetic counseling cash fund for use by the laboratory services division to expand laboratory space and purchase equipment; and
• $89,222 from the newborn hearing screening cash fund for use by the center for health and environmental information for the birth defects monitoring and prevention program.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)