The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) Congenital heart defects (CHD) are structural abnormalities that are present at birth and range in severity from simple holes in the heart to severe malformations.(2) Some severe congenital heart defects can cause serious and life-threatening symptoms that require intervention in the first days of life.(3) The March of Dimes reports that approximately 350,000 infants are born with heart defects every year in the United States.(4) Congenital heart defects are the number one killer of infants with birth defects, however, advances in diagnosis and surgical treatment have led to dramatic increases in survival for children with serious heart defects.(5) In the United States, about 1.4 million children and adults live with congenital heart defects today and nearly all are able to live productive, active lives.(6) Current methods for detecting congenital heart defects include prenatal ultrasound screenings and repeated clinical examinations, which only identify less than half of all cases of CHD.(7) Pulse oximetry is a noninvasive test that when performed on newborns is effective in detecting critical, life-threatening congenital heart defects that go undetected by current screening methods.Added by P.L. 853 2014 No. 94, § 2, eff. 9/30/2014.