Bill 71 2003

An Act to amend the
Health Insurance Act

Preamble

Many infants and children unknowingly suffer from Medium Chain ACYL-COA Dehydrogenase Deficiency (MCAD) which may be the cause of one hundred infant deaths thought to be SIDS or REYES.

Families in Ontario are aware of the importance of expanding their newborn screening of Fatty Oxidation Disorders (FOD) and other metabolic disorders that can be detected through tandem mass spectrometry. The procedure is currently conducted in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia.

The sample taken at birth for PKU testing is the same sample that can be used to test for FOD and other disorders.

Supplemental newborn screening for FOD disorders would detect MCAD and allow children to live normal lives through treatment.

Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

1. Section 11.2 of the Health Insurance Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1996, chapter 1, Schedule H, section 8 and amended by 1997, chapter 16, section 7, is amended by adding the following subsection:

Same

(6) The provision of supplemental newborn screening through the use of tandem mass spectrometry is an insured service.

Commencement

2. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

3. The short title of this Act is the Health Insurance Amendment Act (Supplemental Newborn Screening), 2003.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Health Insurance Act by making the supplemental screening of newborns through the use of tandem mass spectrometry an insured service.