(410 ILCS 240/1.10)

Sec. 1.10. Critical congenital heart disease.

(a) The General Assembly finds as follows:

(1) According to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children, congenital heart disease affects approximately 7 to 9 of every 1,000 live births in the United States and Europe. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that critical congenital heart disease is the leading cause of infant death due to birth defects.

(2) Many newborn lives could potentially be saved by earlier detection and treatment of critical congenital heart disease if health care facilities in the State were required to perform a simple, non-invasive newborn screening in conjunction with current screening methods.

(b) The Department shall require that screening tests for critical congenital heart defects be performed at birthing hospitals and birth centers in accordance with a testing protocol adopted by the Department, by rule, in line with current standards of care, such as pulse oximetry screening, and may authorize screening tests for additional congenital anomalies to be performed at birthing hospitals and birth centers in accordance with a testing protocol adopted by the Department, by rule.

(c) The Department may authorize health care facilities to report screening test results and follow-up information.

(Source: P.A. 98-440, eff. 8-16-13.)