BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair


          SB 460 (Pavley) - Prenatal testing program: education.
          
          Amended: April 16, 2013         Policy Vote: Health 8-1
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: May 13, 2013      Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
          
          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
          
          
          Bill Summary: SB 460 would require the Department of Public  
          Health to include information about environmental health in  
          materials that are distributed to pregnant women as part of the  
          Prenatal Screening Program.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              Minor costs to develop new materials and notify physicians.

              One-time costs of $345,000 to reprint the booklet provided  
              to pregnant women (Genetic Disease Testing Fund). The  
              Department of Public Health indicates that it has recently  
              reprinted the booklet. Because the bill does not delay  
              implementation until the next printing, the bill will  
              require the Department to replace the recently printed  
              materials.

          Background: Under current law, the Department of Public Health  
          manages a program to provide prenatal screening for pregnant  
          women. Pregnant women are provided information about prenatal  
          screening by their health care provider and if they elect to be  
          screened, the provider draws a blood sample for testing arranged  
          by the Department. The Department charges a fee of $162 for  
          screening, which is typically paid by health plans or insurers  
          (and is covered by Medi-Cal).

          As part of this program, the Department provides health care  
          providers with an informational booklet on the prenatal  
          screening program to be distributed to pregnant women.

          Proposed Law: SB 460 would require the Department of Public  
          Health to include information about environmental health in  
          materials that are distributed to pregnant women as part of the  
          Prenatal Screening Program.








          SB 460 (Pavley)
          Page 1



          The bill would require a specified notice to be included in the  
          materials regarding chemical exposures in the environment. The  
          bill would also require the Department to include internet links  
          to specified information developed by researchers at the  
          University of California, San Francisco on this topic.

          The bill also requires the Department to notify  
          obstetrician-gynecologists of the change in the booklet.


          Staff Comments: The Department reprints the booklet every one to  
          two years. The Department has recently printed a new batch of  
          booklets. Because the bill does not delay implementation of the  
          new requirements for the next printing of the booklet, the  
          Department would have to reprint the booklet with the newly  
          required information.

          The bill would require internet links to specific documents  
          developed by researchers at the University of California, San  
          Francisco. Requiring the Department to provide links to  
          documents that it does not control could lead to the booklet  
          becoming outdated quickly, if the specified documents are  
          updated or moved.