Section 613. State aid; immunization

1. The commissioner shall develop and
  supervise the execution of a program of immunization,  surveillance  and
  testing,  to  raise  to the highest reasonable level the immunity of the
  children of the state against communicable diseases including,  but  not
  limited   to,   poliomyelitis,   measles,  mumps,  rubella,  haemophilus
  influenzae type b  (Hib),  diphtheria,  pertussis,  tetanus,  varicella,
  hepatitis  B,  pneumococcal  disease,  and the immunity of adults of the
  state against diseases identified by the commissioner, including but not
  limited to influenza, smallpox, and hepatitis.  The  commissioner  shall
  encourage  the  municipalities  in the state to develop and shall assist
  them  in  the  development  and  the  execution  of  local  programs  of
  inoculation  to  raise  the  immunity of the children and adults of each
  municipality to  the  highest  reasonable  level.  Such  programs  shall
  include  provision  of vaccine, surveillance of vaccine effectiveness by
  means of  laboratory  tests,  serological  testing  of  individuals  and
  educational   efforts   to  inform  health  care  providers  and  target
  populations or their parents, if they are minors, of the facts  relative
  to  these  diseases  and  inoculation  to  prevent their occurrence. The
  commissioner shall  invite  and  encourage  the  active  assistance  and
  cooperation  in  such  education  activities  of: the medical societies,
  organizations   of   other   licensed   health   personnel,   hospitals,
  corporations  subject to article forty-three of the insurance law, trade
  unions, trade associations, parents and teachers and their associations,
  the media of mass communication, and such  other  voluntary  groups  and
  organizations  of  citizens  as  he  or  she shall deem appropriate. The
  public health council, the department of education,  the  department  of
  family  assistance,  and  the department of mental hygiene shall provide
  the commissioner with such assistance in carrying out the program as  he
  or  she  shall  request. All other state agencies shall also render such
  assistance as the commissioner may reasonably require for this  program.
  Nothing  in  this  subdivision shall authorize mandatory immunization of
  adults or children, except as provided in  sections  twenty-one  hundred
  sixty-four and twenty-one hundred sixty-five of this chapter.
    2.  The  commissioner  shall  set  such  standards  as  he  shall deem
  necessary for the proper, safe,  and  efficient  administration  of  the
  program.  He shall direct an annual survey to determine the immunization
  level of children entering school, and shall conduct annually  an  audit
  of  such  survey  and  an  audit  of  the immunization level of children
  attending school. State aid provided by this article shall be reduced by
  ten percent, provided however that state aid for essential public health
  activities shall not be reduced, unless a municipality has submitted, in
  cooperation with local school districts, a plan within ninety days after
  the commissioner shall have certified to such municipality  the  results
  of  his survey of the immunization level of children entering schools in
  such local school districts. Such plan shall be submitted for  the  next
  ensuing  school  year  and a subsequent plan shall be submitted annually
  thereafter for assuring  that  immunizing  agents  are  administered  to
  pre-school children within a reasonable time prior to but, in any event,
  no  later than their entrance into school, and to students generally, as
  required pursuant to  section  twenty-one  hundred  sixty-four  of  this
  chapter.  Such  plan  shall  include  the  manner  in which immunization
  activities are coordinated among the  local  health  authority  and  the
  school districts. Such reduction in state aid and the requirement that a
  municipality  submit an immunization plan shall not be applicable to any
  municipality where ninety percent  or  more  of  its  children  entering
  school   are   immunized.   The   determination  of  the  percentage  of
  immunization shall be made by the commissioner based upon his  audit  of
  immunization surveys.

    3.  The  commissioner shall expend such funds as the legislature shall
  make available for the purpose of adult and child immunization programs,
  including quality assurance and immunization education:
    (a) directly through the department;
    (b)  by  allocation  to  municipalities  with  qualifying programs for
  reimbursement in accordance with provisions of this section; or
    (c) by contract.
    4. The commissioner shall expend such funds as the  legislature  shall
  make available for the purchase of the vaccines described in subdivision
  one of this section. All immunization vaccines purchased with such funds
  shall  be  purchased by sealed competitive state bids through the office
  of general services. Immunization  vaccine  purchased  with  funds  made
  available  under  this section shall be made available without charge to
  licensed private physicians, hospitals, clinics and such others  as  the
  commissioner  shall  determine  in  accordance  with  regulations  to be
  promulgated by the commissioner, and no charge  shall  be  made  to  any
  patient for such vaccines.
    5.  State  funds made available under this section for the purchase of
  immunization vaccines or reimbursement of  the  cost  of  such  vaccines
  shall be available to meet the total cost of vaccine purchased.
    6.  The  commissioner shall submit to the governor and the legislature
  an annual report on the  progress  of  the  immunization  program.  Such
  reports  shall  include  specific  information  on  the  steps taken and
  planned by the department and  by  each  participating  municipality  to
  carry  out  the program, statistical information on immunization vaccine
  purchased for each municipality, the number of inoculations administered
  to children of various ages  by  municipal  agencies,  private  clinics,
  private  physicians  and  others,  the  cost  of  the  several  vaccines
  purchased, information on the results of the  immunization  program  and
  research on the effects of the vaccine, cooperative education efforts by
  public  and  private  agencies,  special  information and administrative
  measures to reach  parents  and  children  in  population  groups  which
  present  special educational problems, the actual and planned use of any
  federal funds available to meet any part of the cost of the program, and
  actual and planned expenditure  by  municipalities  to  meet  costs  not
  provided for by state and federal funds.
    7.  The  commissioner  shall, on or before January first, two thousand
  nine, conduct a study on the feasibility  and  cost-effectiveness  of  a
  program   to  make  vaccines  universally  available  for  children  and
  adolescents up to age nineteen, without charge  to  the  patient  or  to
  local  health  departments,  licensed physicians, hospitals, clinics and
  such  other  licensed  health  care  providers,  as  determined  by  the
  commissioner. Such study shall include consultation with stakeholders on
  potential financing mechanisms and implementation options.