A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to increase the newborn screening fee.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 130A‑125 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A‑125.  Screening of newborns for metabolic and other hereditary and congenital disorders.
(a)	The Department shall establish and administer a Newborn Screening Program. The program shall include, but shall not be limited to:
(1)	Development and distribution of educational materials regarding the availability and benefits of newborn screening.
(2)	Provision of laboratory testing.
(3)	Development of follow‑up protocols to assure early treatment for identified children, and the provision of genetic counseling and support services for the families of identified children.
(4)	Provision of necessary dietary treatment products or medications for identified children as medically indicated and when not otherwise available.
(5)	For each newborn, provision of physiological screening in each ear for the presence of permanent hearing loss.
(b)	The Commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement the Newborn Screening Program. The rules shall include, but shall not be limited to, the conditions for which screening shall be required, provided that screening shall not be required when the parents or the guardian of the infant object to such screening. If the parents or guardian object to the screening, the objection shall be presented in writing to the physician or other person responsible for administering the test, who shall place the written objection in the infant's medical record.
(b1)	The Commission for Public Health shall adopt temporary and permanent rules to include newborn hearing screening in the Newborn Screening Program established under this section.
(c)	A fee of seventeen dollars and forty‑five cents ($17.45) applies to a laboratory test performed by the State Laboratory of Public Health performed pursuant to this section. Fees collected shall remain in the Department to be used to offset the cost of the Newborn Screening Program."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2008.