BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1644
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Date of Hearing: June 22, 2004
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Rebecca Cohn, Chair
SB 1644 (Romero) - As Amended: May 24, 2004
SENATE VOTE : 25-12
SUBJECT : Elder death review teams: access to vital record
information.
SUMMARY : Requires a local registrar of deaths, upon the request
of a member of a county elder death review team (EDRT), to make
available and assist the electronic transfer of information from
a certificate of death to the county EDRT in any county that has
access to the statewide system, as specified. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires the transfer of information to be in accordance with
the Internet-based electronic death registration system
established by the Department of Health Services (DHS).
2)Allows an organization represented on an EDRT to request and
obtain copies of certificates of death from the local
registrar of deaths and allows each organization represented
on an EDRT to share that information with any other member of
the team.
3)Maintains the confidentiality and disclosure requirements, as
defined.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows each county to establish an interagency elder death
team to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing
suspicious elder deaths and facilitating communication among
persons involved in investigating elder abuse cases.
2)Allows for each organization represented on an EDRT to share
with other members of the team information in its possession
concerning the decedent who is the subject of the review or
any person who was in contact with the decedent and any other
information deemed by the organization to be pertinent to the
review.
SB 1644
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3)Establishes, by January 1, 2005, the Internet-based electronic
death registration system within DHS, limited to proper use of
the death information created, stored, and transferred within
the system and subject to any limitation placed on the
accessibility and release of personally identifying
information contained in those death records.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, county coroners and medical examiners have estimated
the costs of this bill is unknown, but probably significant.
These costs would have to be borne by the General Fund because
they represent an unfunded state-mandated program.
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the author, this bill
authorizes a member of a local EDRT to access death
certificates electronically from vital statistics in their
county. This bill ensures access of death information for
EDRTs, which are made up of governmental and law enforcement
officials that currently do not have portal access to death
certificates held in vital statistics. Finally, this bill
provides an essential tool to EDRTs to effectively track the
deaths of elders in each county. For example, patterns that
may develop locally with respect to deaths will be more easily
tracked and responded to with this information.
2)SUPPORT . The American Federation of State, County, and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME) states that current law requires
that each death be registered with the local registrar of
births and deaths in the district in which the death was
officially pronounced or the body was found within eight
calendar days after death and prior to any disposition of the
human remains. This bill would require a local registrar of
deaths to make available and assist the electronic transfer of
information from a certificate of death to the county EDRT, in
accordance with the Internet-based electronic death
registration system in any county that has access to it.
AFSCME supports this bill because it would allow members of an
EDRT to electronically access death certificates from vital
statistics.
3)DRAFTING QUESTION . This bill uses the term "local registrar
of deaths," which is not a term found in statute. Instead,
statute refers to "local registrars." The author may wish to
SB 1644
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amend the bill to be consistent with current law.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Senior Legislature (sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council (previous version)
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (previous version)
California State Coroners' Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
Consumer Attorneys of California (previous version)
Gray Panthers (previous version)
Older Women's League (previous version)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Clara Craven / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097