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Rep. McGuire seeks to reduce frequency of required health equity reports, adjust registry disclosures
Summary
Representative Eric McGuire told the House Human Services Committee H.293 would change the required frequency of a statutory health equity data analysis report from annually to once every three years and would adjust disclosure rules for cancer and ALS registries to align with federal changes affecting public-health surveillance research.
Representative Eric McGuire introduced H.293 to the House Human Services Committee, saying the bill would reduce the frequency of a required health equity data analysis report from once a year to once every three years and would update registry-disclosure rules for cancer and ALS data to reflect changes in federal public-health surveillance law.
McGuire said the Department of Health already publishes much of the required information and that health outcomes change slowly enough that a three-year reporting interval would let the department “identify and report on changes to health outcomes” more effectively than annual snapshots. He added the Health Equity Advisory Commission and the Office of Racial Equity support the change.
The bill also proposes to give the Health Commissioner discretion to accept agreements and assurances from researchers and registries when disclosing cancer and ALS registry information. McGuire said a federal change now makes it difficult for public-health surveillance researchers to obtain IRB approvals for certain registry disclosures; without legislative change, he said, Vermont may be unable to provide cancer and ALS registry data to external researchers or to CDC programs that require signed confidentiality agreements.
Committee members asked whether the change was requested by the Health Department (McGuire said yes) and sought clarification of the technical differences between research oversight categories. McGuire and members said staff will follow up with the department to provide those technical details if the bill is scheduled for committee action.
