Bill Text: NY S03964 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to including rescue inhaler prescriptions for asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases for individuals under age nineteen in the statewide immunization information system.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-31 - REFERRED TO HEALTH [S03964 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-S03964-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3964 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 31, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. RIVERA, BAILEY, SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to including rescue inhaler prescriptions for asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases for individuals under age nineteen in the statewide immuniza- tion information system The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subdivision 1, paragraphs (b), 2 (c) and (d) of subdivision 2, paragraph (a) of subdivision 3, paragraphs 3 (b), (c) and (d) of subdivision 8, and subdivisions 10 and 11 of section 4 2168 of the public health law, paragraphs (a) and (c) of subdivision 1, 5 paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of subdivision 2, and subdivision 10 as 6 amended by section 7 of part A of chapter 58 of the laws of 2009, para- 7 graph (a) of subdivision 3 as amended by section 2-a of part DD of chap- 8 ter 57 of the laws of 2018, paragraphs (b) and (c) of subdivision 8 and 9 subdivision 11 as amended by chapter 829 of the laws of 2022, and para- 10 graph (d) of subdivision 8 as amended by chapter 532 of the laws of 2022 11 and subparagraph (i) of paragraph (d) as separately amended by chapter 12 44 of the laws of 2022, are amended and a new paragraph (i) of subdivi- 13 sion 2 is added to read as follows: 14 (a) collect reports of immunizations and thus reduce the incidence of 15 illness, disability and death due to vaccine preventable diseases [and], 16 collect results of blood lead analyses performed by physician office 17 laboratories to provide to the statewide registry of lead levels of 18 children established pursuant to section thirteen hundred seventy-a of 19 this chapter, and collect reports of rescue inhaler prescriptions; 20 (c) make available to an individual, or parents, guardians, or other 21 person in a custodial relation to a child or, to local health districts, 22 local social services districts responsible for the care and custody of 23 children, health care providers and their designees, schools, WIC EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06591-01-5S. 3964 2 1 programs, and third party payers the immunization status of children, 2 blood lead analysis report and any rescue inhaler prescription; and 3 (b) The term "statewide immunization information system" or "system" 4 shall mean a statewide-computerized database maintained by the depart- 5 ment capable of collecting, storing, and disclosing the electronic and 6 paper records of vaccinations received, blood lead analysis as defined 7 in section thirteen hundred seventy-a of this chapter, and rescue inhal- 8 er prescriptions by persons under nineteen years of age. 9 (c) The term "citywide immunization registry" shall mean the computer- 10 ized database maintained by the city of New York department of health 11 and mental hygiene capable of collecting, storing, and disclosing the 12 electronic and paper records of vaccinations received and rescue inhaler 13 prescriptions by persons less than nineteen years of age. The term 14 "citywide immunization registry" shall not include the childhood blood 15 lead registry established pursuant to the health code of the city of New 16 York. For the purposes of this section the term New York city department 17 of health and mental hygiene, shall mean such agency or any successor 18 agency responsible for the citywide immunization registry. 19 (d) The term "health care provider" shall mean any person authorized 20 by law to order an immunization [or], analysis of a blood sample for 21 lead, or prescribe a rescue inhaler or any health care facility licensed 22 under article twenty-eight of this chapter or any certified home health 23 agency established under section thirty-six hundred six of this chapter; 24 with respect to a person seeking or receiving a health care service from 25 the health care provider. 26 (i) The term "rescue inhaler" shall mean a rescue inhaler treatment 27 device as defined in paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section three 28 thousand-e of this chapter that has been prescribed by a health care 29 provider for an individual with asthma or other chronic respiratory 30 disease that is under age nineteen. 31 (a) (i) Any health care provider who administers any vaccine to a 32 person less than nineteen years of age or, on or after September first, 33 two thousand nine, conducts a blood lead analysis of a sample obtained 34 from a person under eighteen years of age in accordance with paragraph 35 (h) of subdivision two of this section, or on or after January first, 36 two thousand twenty-five prescribes a rescue inhaler to a person less 37 than nineteen years of age, provided that the first renewal of an ongo- 38 ing prescription in effect prior to such date shall be considered a new 39 prescription for the purposes of this section; and immunizations 40 received by a person less than nineteen years of age in the past if not 41 already reported, shall report all such immunizations [and], the results 42 of any blood lead analysis, and any prescription for a rescue inhaler to 43 the department in a format prescribed by the commissioner within four- 44 teen days of administration of such immunizations [or], of obtaining the 45 results of any such blood lead analysis, or of prescribing such rescue 46 inhaler. Health care providers administering immunizations, or 47 prescribing a rescue inhaler to persons less than nineteen years of age 48 in the city of New York shall report, in a format prescribed by the city 49 of New York commissioner of health and mental hygiene, all such immuni- 50 zations to the citywide immunization registry. Health care providers who 51 conduct a blood lead analysis on a person under eighteen years of age 52 and who report the results of such analysis or prescription to the city 53 of New York commissioner of health and mental hygiene pursuant to New 54 York city reporting requirements shall be exempt from this requirement 55 for reporting blood lead analysis results and prescription for rescue 56 inhaler to the state commissioner of health; provided, however, bloodS. 3964 3 1 lead analysis data collected from physician office laboratories by the 2 commissioner of health and mental hygiene of the city of New York pursu- 3 ant to the health code of the city of New York shall be provided to the 4 department in a format prescribed by the commissioner. 5 (ii) A pharmacist who administers a vaccine pursuant to subdivision 6 two of section sixty-eight hundred one of the education law, to a person 7 less than nineteen years of age, shall report all such immunizations to 8 the department in a format prescribed by the commissioner within four- 9 teen days of administration of such immunizations. Pharmacists adminis- 10 tering immunizations pursuant to subdivision two of section sixty-eight 11 hundred one of the education law to persons less than nineteen years of 12 age in the city of New York shall report, in a format prescribed by the 13 city of New York commissioner of health and mental hygiene, all such 14 immunizations to the citywide immunization registry. 15 (b) (i) The commissioner may use the statewide immunization informa- 16 tion system [and], the blood lead analysis, and rescue inhaler informa- 17 tion in such system for purposes of outreach, quality improvement and 18 accountability, including professional responsibility proceedings of the 19 office of professional medical conduct and the state education depart- 20 ment, research, epidemiological studies and disease control, and to 21 obtain blood lead test results from physician office laboratories for 22 the statewide registry of lead levels of children established pursuant 23 to subdivision two of section thirteen hundred seventy-a of this chap- 24 ter; (ii) the commissioner of health and mental hygiene for the city of 25 New York may use the immunization registry [and], the blood lead analy- 26 sis, and rescue inhaler information in such system for purposes of 27 outreach, quality improvement and accountability, research, epidemiolog- 28 ical studies and disease control; (iii) local health departments shall 29 have access to the immunization information system [and], the blood lead 30 analysis, and rescue inhaler information in such system for purposes of 31 outreach, quality improvement and accountability, epidemiological 32 studies and disease control within their county; and 33 (c) health care providers and their designees, registered professional 34 nurses, and pharmacists authorized to administer immunizations pursuant 35 to subdivision two of section sixty-eight hundred one of the education 36 law shall have access to the statewide immunization information system 37 [and], the blood lead analysis, and rescue inhaler information in such 38 system only for purposes of submission of information about vaccinations 39 received by a specific registrant, determination of the immunization 40 status of a specific registrant, determination of the blood lead testing 41 status of a specific registrant, submission of the results from a blood 42 lead analysis of a sample obtained from a specific registrant in accord- 43 ance with paragraph (h) of subdivision two of this section, determi- 44 nation of the asthma or other chronic respiratory disease diagnosis of a 45 specific registrant, submission of information about prescriptions for a 46 rescue inhaler review of practice coverage, generation of reminder 47 notices, quality improvement and accountability, including professional 48 responsibility proceedings of the office of professional medical conduct 49 and the state education department, and printing a copy of the immuniza- 50 tion [or] record, lead testing record, or rescue inhaler prescription 51 for the registrant's medical record, for the registrant's parent or 52 guardian, or other person in parental or custodial relation to a child, 53 or for a registrant upon reaching eighteen years of age. 54 (d) The following authorized users shall have access to the statewide 55 immunization information system [and], the blood lead analysis, and 56 rescue inhaler information in such system and the citywide immunizationS. 3964 4 1 registry for the purposes stated in this paragraph: (i) schools for the 2 purpose of verifying immunization status for eligibility for admission, 3 for the purpose of knowing a student or child care or preschool child 4 has been diagnosed with asthma or other chronic respiratory disease for 5 which a rescue inhaler was prescribed, for the purpose of confirming a 6 student has been screened for lead when enrolling in child care, pre- 7 school, pre-kindergarten or kindergarten, and for the provision of 8 appropriate educational materials developed by the department pursuant 9 to section thirteen hundred seventy-a of this chapter on the dangers of 10 lead exposure, and the health risks associated with elevated blood lead 11 levels to the parents or legal guardians of the student with an elevated 12 blood lead level, as such term is defined in subdivision six of section 13 thirteen hundred seventy of this chapter, as well as information on 14 programs that may be available to the student and the parents or legal 15 guardians of the student. For each school that has the technical ability 16 to batch download sets of immunization records, the department shall 17 make available such sets of immunization records of only those children 18 submitted by the school for which the school has obtained a certificate 19 of immunization or for which the school has responsibility to verify the 20 immunization status for school attendance purposes under section twen- 21 ty-one hundred sixty-four of this article. Schools shall properly safe- 22 guard such information for use only as authorized by this section; (ii) 23 colleges for verifying immunization status for eligibility for admis- 24 sion; (iii) professional and technical schools for verifying immuniza- 25 tion status for eligibility for admission; (iv) children's overnight 26 camps and summer day camps for verifying immunization status of children 27 attending camp and for the purpose of knowing a student has been diag- 28 nosed with asthma or other chronic respiratory disease for which a 29 rescue inhaler was prescribed; (v) third party payer for performing 30 quality assurance, accountability and outreach, relating to enrollees 31 covered by the third party payer; (vi) commissioners of local social 32 services districts with regard to a child in [his/her] their legal 33 custody; (vii) the commissioner of the office of children and family 34 services with regard to children in their legal custody, and for quality 35 assurance and accountability of commissioners of local social services 36 districts, care and treatment of children in the custody of commission- 37 ers of local social services districts; and (viii) WIC programs for the 38 purposes of verifying immunization and lead testing status for those 39 seeking or receiving services. 40 10. The person to whom any immunization record relates, or [his or41her] their parent, or guardian, or other person in parental or custodial 42 relation to such person may request a copy of an immunization [or] 43 record, lead testing record or rescue inhaler prescription from the 44 registrant's healthcare provider, the statewide immunization information 45 system or the citywide immunization registry according to procedures 46 established by the commissioner or, in the case of the citywide immuni- 47 zation registry, by the city of New York commissioner of the department 48 of health and mental hygiene. 49 11. The commissioner, or in the city of New York, the commissioner of 50 the department of health and mental hygiene, may provide registrant 51 specific immunization [and] records, lead test records, and rescue 52 inhaler prescriptions to the federal centers for disease control and 53 prevention or its successor agency, to other state or city registries 54 and registries maintained by the Indian Health Service and tribal 55 nations recognized by the state or the United States pursuant to a writ- 56 ten agreement requiring that the other registry conform to nationalS. 3964 5 1 standards for maintaining the integrity of the data and that the data 2 will only be used for purposes consistent with the provisions of this 3 section and provided that disclosure of identifiable registrant informa- 4 tion shall be limited to the minimum amount necessary to accomplish the 5 purposes consistent with the provisions of this section as determined by 6 the commissioner, or in the city of New York, the commissioner of the 7 department of health and mental hygiene. 8 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
