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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Komadina

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/09/07

HB

SHORT TITLE Birth Defects Registry

SB 667

ANALYST Geisler

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$250.0

Recurring

General

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 667, for the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee, would appropriate

$250,000 from the general fund to the Public Health division of the Department of Health (DOH)

for the purposes of supporting a birth defects registry. Any unexpended funds remaining at the

end of FY08 shall revert to the general fund.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

DOH notes that the funding in SB 667 is not part of the Executive Budget Request.

DOH notes that in order to implement an effective birth defects registry, $150,000 of the funding

would be used for two FTEs to support data management and referral of identified children to

appropriate programs for follow up. The remaining $100,000 would be used for other costs as-

sociated with developing the registry. As this is a long term project, recurring funding may be

needed to sustain the registry.

Senate Bill 667 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Each year in New Mexico, approximately 600 infants (about 1 out of every 45 births) are born

with a major birth defect. Birth defects were the second leading cause of infant mortality in

New Mexico (New Mexico Selected Health Statistics Annual Report for 2004, NMDOH). Since

2000, birth defects have been a reportable condition in New Mexico. Babies born with birth de-

fects have a greater chance of illness and long term disability than babies without birth defects.

By identifying these children early in their life, we have the opportunity to assure that they re-

ceive the medical care and early intervention services to allow them to be productive adults and

fulfill their potential.

NM had a Birth Defects Registry between 1995 and 2005 that was federally funded by the Cen-

ter for Disease Control (CDC). The state’s proposal for continued support from CDC was ap-

proved but not funded in 2005. There is currently no state or other funding to support this activ-

ity. The goal of the birth defects registry is to 1) monitor the prevalence of birth defects in the

state, 2) provide data for the planning for services needed by these children and their families, 3)

assess the impact of screening and prevention activities, and 4) to link children to necessary ser-

vices such as case management for those that have complex medical needs and early intervention

services to support the child’s development.

GG/mt