ESSB 5100 -
By Committee on Education
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 A new section is added to chapter 28A.210
RCW to read as follows:
(1) Beginning with the 2008-09 school year, as part of a public
school's enrollment process, the school shall annually inquire whether
a student has health insurance. If a student's parent or guardian
indicates that a student does not have health insurance coverage or
does not indicate whether the student has or does not have health
insurance, the school district or a designated community health care
collaborative under written contract with the school district shall
provide the parent or guardian with information about the existence of
the medicaid and children's health insurance program and how to get
additional information about the programs. The information shall be
provided in writing via postal mail, electronic mail, or existing
communication channels, by December 1, 2008, and annually thereafter.
(2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall
work with the department of social and health services, the office of
the education ombudsman, and established community health care
collaboratives that have proven outreach and enrollment services to
schools in developing a one-page informational sheet that contains the
information schools are required to provide to parents under subsection
(1) of this section and make that informational sheet available to
schools on the superintendent of public instruction's web site and the
office of the education ombudsman's web site by August 1, 2008.
(3) In carrying out their duties under this section, the specified
agencies and collaboratives shall coordinate with the work of the
select interim legislative task force on comprehensive school health
established by chapter 5, Laws of 2007.
(4) Beginning December 1, 2008, schools shall report annually to
the superintendent of public instruction the number of students that
reported not having health insurance under subsection (1) of this
section.
(5) As used in this section, "community health care collaborative"
means a nonprofit organization or a local government entity that
sponsors a community-based public-private collaborative with the stated
purpose of improving health care access for a defined geographic area
and target population, with an emphasis on active outreach to the
uninsured and low-income persons. The collaborative must demonstrate
formal governance accountability to a broad base of health care safety-net providers, school districts, hospitals, and public health and other
community-based organizations."