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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3840 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2400 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Mindy Domb and Marjorie C. Decker |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act measuring the impact of Long COVID in the Commonwealth. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Mindy Domb3rd Hampshire1/17/2025Marjorie C. Decker25th Middlesex1/17/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3840 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2400 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representatives Domb of Amherst and Decker of Cambridge, a petition (accompanied by |
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| 19 | 19 | | bill, House, No. 2400) of Mindy Domb and Marjorie C. Decker for legislation to measure the |
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| 20 | 20 | | impact of Long COVID. Public Health. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act measuring the impact of Long COVID in the Commonwealth. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 Chapter 111 of the General Laws, as so appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2amended by inserting after section 244 the following section:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 Section 245. (a) The department shall create a surveillance case definition for Long |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4COVID also known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) that aligns with the |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5definition established by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6(NASEM) and the diverse associated conditions as described in it. |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7 (b) The department shall determine the most effective and efficient method to conduct |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8active surveillance on the condition known as Long COVID (PASC) to better understand its |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9prevalence and impact on the Commonwealth’s population and health care systems and inform |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10public health interventions. |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11 (c)The department shall develop a case report form to support these active surveillance |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12efforts. This case report form may collect the following information on patients diagnosed with 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13Long COVID (PASC): (i) gender identity, (ii) race, (iii) year of birth, (iv) county of residence, |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14(v) state of residence (vi) primary language, (vii) presenting symptom(s) or condition(s) allowing |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15for the diagnosis, (ix) date of initial infection with COVID-19, (x) date of onset of Long COVID |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16(PASC) symptoms, (xi) county of diagnosis. The case report form may collect information on |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17treatment received and referrals provided. |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18 (d) The department shall commence active public health surveillance of Long COVID |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19(PASC) six months after enactment of this act. The department shall determine the frequency to |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20make statewide surveillance reports available to the public, no less than on an annual basis. |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21 (e) Not later than one year after the enactment of this act the department shall provide a |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22report to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate and to the chairs of the joint |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23committee on public health on the progress of the commonwealth’s Long COVID (PASC) |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24surveillance efforts. The report shall include the status of the development and dissemination of a |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25surveillance form, the department outreach and education on Long COVID (PASC) surveillance, |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26and initial surveillance results. |
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