HB 424 DE
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 RELATING TO AUTISM SURVEILLANCE AND REGISTRATION.
A state bill is a proposed law in a state legislature — separate from the U.S. Congress. Learn more →
Summary
Delaware House Bill 424 repeals the state's Autism Surveillance and Registration Program, which had required healthcare providers to report autism cases or face a $100 penalty for each failure to report. The bill requires that all protected health information collected under the program be expunged and deleted in accordance with statutory confidentiality requirements. The repeal addresses concerns raised by healthcare providers regarding privacy and the lack of parental consent for the storage of individual health information in the registry.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill (from the OpenStates abstract — no full text available yet) — neutral, and may be imperfect.
Official abstract
In 2004, the 142nd General Assembly passed House Bill No. 500 as amended by House Amendment No. 1, creating an Autism registration and surveillance program. Physicians, surgeons, dentists, podiatrists, or other healthcare practitioners are required to report occurrences using the established procedure or incur a fee of $100 for each violation of failure to report. The Department of Health & Social Services (DHSS) has received questions from providers about Delaware’s required Autism Surveillance and Registration Program and concerns about privacy, ethics, and the absence of parental consent to store this information. The Autism Surveillance and Registration Program was implemented in a passive approach, and the data collected is not used for analysis or review. The Division of Public Health’s current strategy around Autism is to promote awareness and encourage appropriate screenings. This Act repeals the Autism Surveillance and Registration Program and requires that protected health information collected at an individual level to be expunged under statutory confidentiality requirements.
Sponsors (7)
- Kimberly Williams Democratic · primary
- Laura V. Sturgeon Democratic · primary
- Kerri Evelyn Harris Democratic · primary
- Ray Seigfried Democratic · primary
- Melanie Ross Levin Democratic · primary
- Russell Huxtable Democratic · primary
- Marie Pinkney Democratic · primary
Action history (7)
- May 14, 2026 Introduced and Assigned to Health & Human Development Committee in House · lower
- Jun 9, 2026 Reported Out of Committee (Health & Human Development) in House with 10 On Its Merits · lower
- Jun 11, 2026 Passed By House. Votes: 38 YES 1 NO 2 ABSENT · lower
- Jun 11, 2026 Assigned to Health & Social Services Committee in Senate · upper
- Jun 17, 2026 Reported Out of Committee (Health & Social Services) in Senate with 4 Favorable, 3 On Its Merits · upper
- Jun 30, 2026 Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES · upper
- Jul 23, 2026 Signed by Governor · executive
Full text
The full text hasn’t been imported yet. CivicGate fetches it from the state legislature’s published version documents — check now.
Comments
Data from OpenStates. View on OpenStates →
Comments