BILL NUMBER: SB 22 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 6, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Senator Migden
DECEMBER 4, 2006
An act relating to vaccines to amend
Section 123360 of, and to add Sections 1257.9 and 123361 to, the
Health and Safety Code, and to add Section 14134.55 to the Welfare
and Institutions Code, relating to breast-feeding, and making an
appropriation therefor .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 22, as amended, Migden. Vaccines: influenza.
Breast-feeding.
Under existing law, the State Department of Health Care Services
licenses and regulates health facilities, including hospitals.
Effective July 1, 2007, these duties will be transferred to the State
Department of Public Health.
This bill would provide that the State Department of Public Health
shall require that general acute care hospitals and special
hospitals that provide maternity care, and which have exclusive
patient breast-feeding rates in the lowest 25% of state ratings,
offer a minimum of 8 hours of training to appropriate administrative
and supervisory staff on policies and recommendations for the
promotion of breast-feeding among low-income women.
Existing law provides for the California Special Supplemental Food
Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) administered by the
State Department of Health Care Services and counties, under which
nutrition and other assistance is provided to low-income postpartum
and lactating women, infants, and children under 5 years of age.
Existing law also requires the department to conduct a public service
campaign that includes the promotion of mothers breast-feeding their
infants. Effective July 1, 2007, responsibility for the
administration of the above-mentioned provisions will be transferred
to the State Department of Public Health.
This bill would require the department not later than July 1,
2008, to take appropriate action to expand existing programs and fund
new programs, at WIC program sites, that promote breast-feeding
through the provision of peer counseling and other appropriate
services.
The bill would appropriate an unspecified sum from the General
Fund to the State Department of Public Health to fund these new
programs.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under
which health care services are provided to qualified low-income
persons. Existing law provides that Medi-Cal benefits include various
services to lactating mothers and infants.
This bill would require the department to streamline and
simplify existing Medi-Cal program procedures in order to improve
access to lactation supports and breast pumps among Medi-Cal
recipients.
Existing law requires the State Department of Health Services to
provide appropriate flu vaccine to local governmental or private,
nonprofit agencies at no charge in order that the agencies may
provide the vaccine, at a minimal cost, at accessible locations in
the order of priority first for all persons 60 years of age or older
and then to any other high-risk groups identified by the United
States Public Health Service. Effective July 1, 2007, responsibility
for these services will be transferred to the State Department of
Public Health.
This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would increase the immunization rates among
high-risk groups identified by the United States Public Health
Service by expanding the accessibility of flu vaccine to those
high-risk groups.
Vote: majority 2/3 . Appropriation:
no yes . Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and
declares all of the following:
(a) Breast-feeding has long been recognized as a proven disease
prevention strategy. Breast-fed infants experience lower rates of
allergies and asthma, ear infections, immune diseases, Sudden Infant
Death Syndrome (SIDS), and even juvenile-onset diabetes.
(b) More recent studies have documented the foundational role of
breast-feeding in preventing childhood obesity. The greatest
protection is seen when breast-feeding is used exclusively (no
formula or solid foods) and continues for at least the first few
months.
(c) The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends exclusive
breast-feeding for the first six months and continued breast-feeding
with the addition of appropriate foods up to at least one year of
age. The California Obesity Prevention Plan highlights breast-feeding
as a key strategy.
(d) The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
estimates that up to 20 percent of obesity could be prevented through
breast-feeding. Increasing breast-feeding in California could mean
up to 48,000 fewer overweight children and adolescents every year.
(e) The California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women,
Infants, and Children (WIC) program provided for pursuant to Article
2 (commencing with Section 123275) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division
106 of the Health and Safety Code, provides nutritious foods and
breast-feeding support to 1.4 million pregnant and postpartum women
and their children up to five years of age. While 67 percent of WIC
mothers initiate breast-feeding at least partially in the hospital,
only 15 percent are exclusively breast-feeding by the time their
babies are two months old.
(f) Skilled, culturally competent support is critical to
increasing breast-feeding among high-risk low-income women. Key
factors that appear to increase the duration of breast-feeding among
WIC mothers include all of the following:
(1) Attendance at a breast-feeding class.
(2) Knowing others who have breast-fed.
(3) Support of breast-feeding by significant others.
(g) In the past five years, WIC pilot projects, which are
typically funded by foundations, First Five program grants, and
United States Department of Agriculture special grants, have
demonstrated that using breast-feeding peer counselors and lactation
consultants has a direct, positive impact on breast-feeding rates in
this population.
SEC. 2. Section 1257.9 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
1257.9. (a) The department shall require that each general acute
care hospital, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250, and
each special hospital, as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 1250,
providing maternity care, that have exclusive patient breast-feeding
rates in the lowest 25 percent of the state ratings, offer a minimum
of eight hours of training to appropriate administrative and
supervisory staff on policies and recommendations for the promotion
of breast-feeding among low-income women in the state.
(b) Section 1290 shall not apply to a violation of this section,
nor shall meeting the requirements of this section be a condition of
licensure.
SEC. 3. Section 123360 of the Health
and Safety Code is amended to read:
123360. The State Department of Public Health
Services shall include in its public service campaign the
promotion of mothers breast feeding
breast-feeding their infants.
SEC. 4. Section 123361 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
123361. The State Department of Public Health shall, no later
than July 1, 2008, take appropriate action to expand existing
programs and fund new programs located at local agency California
Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children
(WIC) sites, that promote breast-feeding through the provision of
peer counseling and other appropriate services.
SEC. 5. Section 14134.55 is added to the
Welfare and Institutions Code , to read:
14134.55. The department shall streamline and simplify existing
Medi-Cal program procedures in order to improve access to lactation
supports and breast pumps among Medi-Cal recipients.
SEC. 6. The sum of ____ dollars ($____) is hereby
appropriated from the General Fund to the State Department of Public
Health to be used to fund the establishment of new breast-feeding
peer counseling programs pursuant to Section 123361 of the Health and
Safety Code, to increase the breast-feeding rates among low-income
women in the state.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that would increase the immunization rates among
high-risk groups identified by the United States Public Health
Service by expanding the accessibility of flu vaccine to those
high-risk groups.