PROVISION OF SPINA BIFIDA INFORMATION H.B. 4584 (H-2):
SUMMARY OF HOUSE-PASSED BILL
IN COMMITTEE
House Bill 4584 (Substitute H-2 as passed by the House)
Sponsor: Representative Hank Vaupel
House Committee: Health Policy
Senate Committee: Health Policy
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Public Health Code to require the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to make certain information about spina bifida and support programs and services available to any person who rendered prenatal care, postnatal care, or genetic counseling to parents who received a prenatal or postnatal spina bifida diagnosis and people who received a positive spina bifida test result; and require a health facility or a health professional to provide the information to an expectant or new parent.
Specifically, the bill would require the DHHS to make available to any person who rendered prenatal care, postnatal care, or genetic counseling to parents who received a prenatal or postnatal diagnosis of spina bifida and to any person who had received a positive test result from a test for spina bifida, all of the following:
-- Up-to-date, evidence-based information about spina bifida that had been reviewed by medical experts and spina bifida organizations, including information on physical, developmental, educational, and psychosocial outcomes, life expectancy, clinical course, intellectual and functional development, and treatment options.
-- Contact information regarding support programs and services that could be available to expectant and new parents of children with spina bifida, including information hotlines specific to spina bifida, resource centers or clearinghouses, and national and local spina bifida organizations.
-- That it was highly recommended that a person who had received a positive test result from a test for spina bifida take another test to confirm that he or she did not receive a false positive test result.
The DHHS could make the first category of information available by posting it on the Department's website.
The Department would have to post on its website links to credible sources of education materials on spina bifida, such as the National Spina Bifida Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Upon receiving a positive prenatal or postnatal test result or diagnosis of spina bifida, a health facility or agency licensed under Article 17 (Facilities and Agencies) or a physician, health care provider, nurse midwife, or genetic counselor that rendered prenatal care, postnatal care, or genetic counseling, would have to give the expectant or new parent the information provided by the DHHS.
"Spina bifida" would mean a congenital malformation of the bone in the vertebral column that exposes the spinal cord, which is caused by incomplete closing of the embryonic neural tube.
The bill would take effect 90 days after its enactment.
Proposed MCL 333.5822 Legislative Analyst: Stephen Jackson
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have a minimal negative fiscal impact on the Department of Health and Human Services, and no fiscal impact on local units of government. The Department would incur a minor cost to provide expert reviewed information on spina bifida that was both evidence-based and up-to-date. The majority of the costs would occur during the initial development of materials, with a smaller cost being incurred to ensure that the information stayed current with medical advances.
Fiscal Analyst: Ellyn Ackerman
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.