(a) The Department of Veterans Affairs may establish and maintain, within available resources, a registry of data on members of the armed forces, as defined in section 27-103, who have completed a period of active service. The department may develop surveys for members or their health care providers to voluntarily provide data during or after such active service. The surveys and data shall be collected and maintained in accordance with the requirements of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-191) (HIPAA), as amended from time to time, or regulations adopted thereunder. The department may also create and release for radio and television broadcast noncommercial sustaining announcements to encourage veterans in the state to participate in such surveys, provide such data and otherwise enroll in such registry. For purposes of this section, “noncommercial sustaining announcement” means an announcement that airs during unsold commercial time donated by a broadcaster to a broadcasters' association and that is then made available to a state or federal government agency or nonprofit organization at a reduced rate for the promotion of specific public service programs or campaigns.

(b) The surveys and data shall be related to members' illnesses and potential correlations to environmental hazards, including, but not limited to, vaccinations, infections, chemicals, pesticides, microwaves, depleted uranium, pyridostigmine bromide, and chemical and biological warfare agents. Within available resources, the department may use the data in the registry to (1) study the potential short-term and long-term effects of such hazards on such members, and (2) inform, customize and coordinate the provision of health care services to such members.

(c) No individually identifiable health information may be released by the department without the consent of the member to whom the information pertains in accordance with the requirements of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-191) (HIPAA), as amended from time to time, or regulations adopted thereunder.

(d) The surveys and data in the registry shall be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, as defined in section 1-200, except that no individually identifiable health information may be disclosed.

(June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-2, S. 46; P.A. 16-192, S. 3.)

History: June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-2 effective July 1, 2008; P.A. 16-192 amended Subsec. (a) to add provision re creation and broadcast of noncommercial sustaining announcements and to define “noncommercial sustaining announcement”.