Sen. TJ Shope, who has a well-earned reputation for putting business interests over individual interests like personal privacy, is once again angering Arizona parents with his latest bill, SB1167.
The controversial bill is an “emergency measure that allows the state’s official health information exchange organization to receive, use and redisclose confidential information regarding child immunizations and communicable diseases.” The bill language says that information may be shared only for the purposes permitted by federal law, however federal law offers few actual protections, according to critics of the bill.
How do you feel about your or your minor child’s vax status being shared with “business associates” as defined by HIPAA WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT?@TJShopeforAZ bill #SB1167 will do that. It’s mirror bill has already gone through the AZ House. @NancyBarto is the only NO so far ⬇️
— ProtectAZchildrenCoalition (@PACC_AZ) March 11, 2022
Sen. Nancy Barto’s floor amendment failed to gain support. The amendment would have:
1. Prohibited the state’s official health information exchange organization from using or redisclosing confidential child immunization and communicable disease information.
2. Stipulated that the state’s official health information exchange organization may receive confidential child immunization and communicable disease information only with the opt-in informed consent of the individual or a parent or guardian if the individual is a minor child.
3. Prohibited the nonprofit health information organization from using or disclosing identifying information from the system for purposes of inclusion in a federal vaccine database or for any purpose that serves to discriminate against individuals based on their vaccination status.
Shope successfully offered a watered-down version of Barto’s floor amendment that:
1. Limits the use of confidential child immunization and communicable disease information by the state’s official health information exchange organization to only the purposes permitted by HIPAA privacy standards.
2. Prohibits the state’s official health information exchange organization from using or disclosing identifying information from the childhood immunization reporting system for purposes of inclusion in a federal vaccine database or for any purpose that serves to discriminate against individuals based on their vaccination status.
Unless opponents can win over senators, the bill is expected to pass out of the Senate on Monday.