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Committee hears strong medical support for allowing optional stock albuterol in Montana schools
Summary
Sponsor Rep. Melody Cunningham said HB600 would allow schools to keep emergency albuterol on site; multiple medical organizations and DPHHS backed the bill, citing asthma prevalence, safety profile, low per‑school costs and reductions in emergency visits.
Representative Melody Cunningham told the committee HB600 would authorize — but not require — Montana schools to stock albuterol for emergency use when students experience respiratory distress. She cited national guidance and protocols from medical organizations and said the law would include training, reporting to the Department of Public Health and Human Services and parental notification protocols.
DPHHS program manager William Biskupiak and several medical organizations (Montana Academy of PAs, Montana Medical Association, American Lung Association, pediatric pulmonologists and the Montana chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics) testified in favor, describing albuterol as a safe, quick‑acting inhaled bronchodilator that can prevent emergency department visits and hospitalizations. DPHHS and clinical witnesses cited prevalence numbers (about 7–8% of children in Montana) and an implementation cost estimate — including inhaler, spacer and training — typically in the low hundreds of dollars per school (witnesses gave figures near $155–$185 per school and sponsor mentioned an $85 per dose estimate).
Committee members asked detailed implementation questions about cost, reporting, parent notification and whether medication should be limited to children with prior prescriptions. Doctors and DPHHS representatives said trained staff should administer stock albuterol, that schools should report uses within a short time window (DPHHS recommended reporting within three days), and that limiting emergency use only to students with prior diagnoses would exclude first‑time presentations and increase risk. Dr. Deborah Lipson (pediatric pulmonologist) said many children who need timely treatment may not have an inhaler at school and that stock albuterol can be life‑saving; Dr. Lipson cited data showing that in many programs a majority of children treated with stock albuterol returned to class the same day.
No committee vote on HB600 is recorded in the transcript; sponsor closed urging a green vote.
