North Carolina § 130A-1 - Title.

§ 130A-1. Title.

This Chapter shall be known as the Public Health Law of North Carolina. History (1983, c. 891, s. 2.) Public Health Improvement Plan. - Session Laws 2009-451, s. 10.26(a)-(i), provides: "(a) The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) shall develop a five-year Public Health Improvement Plan (Plan) by March 31, 2010. In developing the Plan the Secretary shall: "(1) Adopt a list of services and activities performed by local health departments that qualify as core public health functions of statewide significance. "(2) Adopt a list of performance measures with the intent of improving health status indicators applicable to core public health functions of statewide significance that local health departments (LHDs) must provide. "(3) Identify a set of health status indicators to be given priority by LHDs. "Under the Plan, all priorities and health status indicators must incorporate as an essential activity the disparity of diseases amongst populations and locales. "(b) In order for measurable benefits to be realized through the implementation of the Plan, the Plan shall include the adoption of levels of performance necessary to promote: "(1) Uniformity across local health departments, "(2) Best evidence-based services, "(3) National standards of performance, "(4) Innovations in public health practice, and "(5) Reduction of geographic and racial health disparities. "LHDs shall have the flexibility and opportunity to use the resources available to achieve the required performance measures in a manner that best suits the LHD. "(c) The Plan will address the need to provide county health departments with financial incentives to encourage and increase local investment in public health functions. County governments shall not supplant existing local funding with State incentive resources. The Secretary may revise the list of activities and performance measures as appropriate, but before doing so, the Secretary shall provide a written explanation of the rationale for the addition, deletion, or revision. "(d) In developing the Plan the Secretary shall establish and chair the Public Health Improvement Plan Task Force (Task Force), the members and expertise of which shall include: "(1) Local health departments, "(2) Department staff, "(3) Individuals and entities with expertise in the development of performance measures, accountability, and systems management, "(4) Experts in development of evidence-based medical guidelines or public health practice guidelines, and "(5) Individuals and entities that will be affected by the performance measures. "(e) The implementation schedule for the Plan shall be as follows: "(1) July 1, 2009, establish the Task Force to develop the Plan, "(2) March 31, 2010, submit the Plan to the 2010 Regular Session of the 2009 General Assembly, "(3) July 1, 2010, implement the Plan, and "(4) November 15, 2011, and annually thereafter, report on Plan implementation. "(f) The Department will identify the programmatic activities and funding in the Division of Public Health associated with the core functions and activities in the Plan. Funds associated with these activities shall be subject to a flexible spending formula adopted by the Department, as follows: "(1) Beginning in SFY 2010-2011, the flexible spending formula will begin to replace the current spending with a more effective method of funding public health activities at the local level and achieving the results expected. "(2) The Task Force shall identify a reliable and consistent source of State revenue to fund the flexible spending formula. "(3) If sufficient additional revenue is available to implement the Plan, a separate set-aside of available funds would be created. This set-aside would be available to contiguous LHDs that seek to address a specific women's health, child health, or adult health disease or chronic condition, and in doing so, choose to merge into a single Local Health District, thus saving administrative dollars to be focused on public health issues. "(g) Funds appropriated to the Department for flexible spending shall be distributed to county health departments as follows: "(1) Each of the county health departments will receive a base amount to be determined by the DHHS. "(2) The balance of funds in the Flexible Spending Account is to be distributed to the counties on the basis of a formula that takes into consideration the following elements: "a. Population, "b. Per capita income, "c. Rates of: "1. Infant mortality, "2. Teenage pregnancy, "3. Tobacco use, "4. Cancer, "5. Heart disease, "6. Diabetes, and "7. Stroke. "d. Percent of minorities in the county, "e. Body Mass Index (BMI) of public school students, and "f. Other factors as the Secretary may find necessary to achieve the goals of the Plan. "(3) The use of the funds by the LHD would reflect the core public health functions. It will be incumbent upon the LHD to use the funds in a manner that assures its achievement of the performance measures adopted by the Secretary. "(h) To ensure compliance with Department directives, the Task Force shall consider requiring each county health department to submit to the Secretary such data as the Secretary determines is necessary to allow the Secretary to assess whether the county health department has used the funds in a manner consistent with achieving the performance measures associated with this Plan. "(i) Beginning November 15, 2011, and biannually thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the Governor and the General Assembly on: "(1) The distribution of funds to LHDs, "(2) The use of these funds by LHDs, "(3) The specific effect the funding from this Plan has had on: "a. LHDs' performance, "b. Health status indicators, and "c. Health disparities. "The Secretary's initial report will focus on implementation. Subsequent reports will evaluate trends in performance and expenditures." Session Laws 2009-451, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2009'." Session Laws 2009-451, s. 28.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2009-451, s. 28.5, is a severability clause. Editor's Note. - Session Laws 1983, c. 891 repealed most of Chapter 130 , and enacted in its place a new Chapter 130 A. Session Laws 1983, c. 775 repealed most of those sections of Chapter 130 not repealed by c. 891. Where appropriate, the historical citations to the repealed sections have been added to corresponding sections in new Chapter 130A . Session Laws 2004-124, s. 10.1, provides: "The Department of Health and Human Services shall centralize all activities throughout the Department relating to the coordination and processing of criminal record checks required by law. The centralization shall include the transfer of positions, corresponding State appropriations, federal funds, and other funds. The Department shall implement the centralization beginning January 1, 2005, and shall report on the details of the centralization and implementation to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, and the Fiscal Research Division not later than January 1, 2005." Session Laws 2004-124, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2004'." Session Laws 2004-124, s. 33.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2004-2005 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2004-2005 fiscal year." Session Laws 2004-124, s. 33.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2020-4, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the '2020 COVID-19 Recovery Act."' Session Laws 2020-4, s. 1.2, provides: "Except as otherwise provided, the following definitions apply in this act: "(1) CDC. - The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "(2) Coronavirus or COVID-19. - The coronavirus disease 2019. "(3) COVID-19 emergency. - The period beginning March 10, 2020, and ending on the date the Governor signs an executive order rescinding Executive Order No. 116 (2020), Declaration of a State of Emergency to Coordinate Response and Protective Actions to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19. "(4) COVID-19 Recovery Legislation. - The following legislation enacted by Congress: "a. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, P.L. 116-136. "b. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, P.L. 116-127. "c. The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020, P.L. 116-123. "d. Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, P.L. 116-139." Session Laws 2020-4, s. 1.3, provides: "The General Assembly finds that State government must serve as a facilitator in assisting local governments, communities, families, workers and other individuals, and businesses in accessing federal relief and recovery funds related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this act is to fulfill the General Assembly's constitutional duty to appropriate all funds, including federal funds appropriated or otherwise made available under the COVID-19 Recovery Legislation, and to direct the use of those funds in a manner that is consistent with the authorizing federal legislation and that responsibly provides for the public health and economic well-being of the State." Session Laws 2020-4, s. 4.10(a), (b), provides: "(a) OSBM shall not release the funds allocated in subdivision (35) of Section 3.3 of this act to the Department of Health and Human Services until the Department fulfills all of the following requirements: "(1) The Department shall require each person in charge of a laboratory providing diagnostic service in this State and any other health care provider licensed in this State that provides diagnostic service to report the results of all COVID-19 testing to the Department of Health and Human Services. The Department of Health and Human Services shall post both positive and negative COVID-19 test results on the Department's Internet Web site, as part of its COVID-19 North Carolina Dashboard. "(2) The Department shall post on its Internet Web site information about any vendor contracted to perform COVID-19 testing, upon the execution of a contract with the vendor. This information posted shall include the cost per test. "(3) The Department shall collect and report on its Internet Web site COVID-19 recovery rates, as defined by the Department. "(4) The Department shall report COVID-19-related hospital discharges, along with underlying health conditions, if any, associated with each COVID-19 hospital discharge. "(5) The Department shall provide comprehensive reporting on COVID-19 deaths, including the percentage of patients diagnosed with severe comorbidities prior to being diagnosed with COVID-19 and whether these deaths are solely classified as deaths due to COVID-19. "(b) Within six months after receiving funds allocated under subdivision (35) of Section 3.3 of this act, the Department of Health and Human Services and any public or private entity that is the recipient of funds allocated under subdivision (35) of Section 3.3 of this act shall report on the use of these funds to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, and the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services." Session Laws 2020-4, s. 5.2, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2021-3, s. 2.20, provides: "Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes or any other provision of law to the contrary, the Department of Health and Human Services shall, by July 1, 2021, grant each prepaid health plan, as defined in G.S. 108D-1 , access to client-specific immunization information contained within the secure, web-based North Carolina Immunization Registry." Legal Periodicals. - For legislative survey on medicine, see 22 Campbell L. Rev. 253 (2000). For article, "Protecting the Greater Good: A Critique of the Public Duty Doctrine as Applied in Murray v. County of Person," see 88 N.C.L. Rev. 694 (2010). For comment, "Sanctuary Clinics: Using the Patient-Physician Relationship to Discuss Immigration Policy as a Public Health Concern," see 53 Wake Forest L. Rev. 979 (2018). For note, "Double Secret Protection: Bridging Federal and State Law to Protect Privacy Rights for Telemental and Mobile Health Users," see 67 Duke L.J. 1115 (2018).