SB59 Alabama 2019 Session

Updated Feb 24, 2026

Summary

Primary Sponsor: Linda Coleman-MadisonSenator
Democrat
Session: Regular Session 2019
Title: Public health, to require medical labs to submit certain clinical materials to Department of Public Health in certain cases of suspected disease, and to authorize the State Board of Health to set reasonable schedule of fees for services rendered under Chapter 11A of Title 22, Secs. 22-11A-4, 22-11A-40 am'd.
Summary: SB 59 updates Alabama public health rules to require laboratories to send certain clinical materials to the Department of Public Health for suspected diseases and gives the State Board of Health authority to set fees for lab services.
What This Bill Does
It requires physicians, hospitals, laboratories, and other medical providers who treat or test for suspected notifiable diseases to make relevant records available to the State Health Officer and to forward clinical materials to the Department's Bureau of Clinical Laboratories. It authorizes the State Board of Health to set a reasonable schedule of fees for services provided by the Bureau of Clinical Laboratories, with those fees deposited to the Board. It requires AIDS and other designated notifiable disease tests to be board-approved and establishes a proficiency testing program to verify lab personnel qualifications, with a misdemeanor penalty for using unapproved tests. It defines 'clinical materials' and outlines a priority order (clinical isolate, then patient specimen, nucleic acid, or other material) when an isolate is not available.

Who It Affects
Laboratories, physicians, hospitals, and other providers of medical services: must forward clinical materials to the Department of Public Health and provide records on request; must use board-approved tests for AIDS/notifiable diseases and may face penalties for non-compliance.
State and local health agencies, including the Department of Public Health and the State Board of Health (and its Bureau of Clinical Laboratories): gain authority to receive materials, adopt rules, and set or collect fees for lab services to fund public health activities.

Key Provisions
Clinical materials include a clinical isolate or other material with potential public health importance; if no isolate is available, the priority order is: patient specimen, nucleic acid, then other laboratory material.
Providers must make records related to treatment, care, diagnostic services, or laboratory services available to the State Health Officer upon request, and laboratories must forward clinical materials to the Bureau of Clinical Laboratories.
The Department of Public Health will adopt rules to implement and enforce these provisions.
All AIDS or other designated notifiable disease tests must be board-approved; the Board will administer a proficiency testing program to ensure staff qualifications, and may charge a reasonable fee to offset the cost.
Reporting test results using methods not approved by the Board is a Class C misdemeanor.
The State Board of Health may set a reasonable schedule of fees for services rendered by the Bureau of Clinical Laboratories, with all fees deposited to the Board's funds to support Chapter 11A activities.
The act becomes effective on the first day of the third month after approval by the Governor.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.
Subjects: Public Health Department