allowing the birth mother to opt out of sharing certain information from the birth worksheet with state agencies.
Summary
HB 621 would change New Hampshire law governing the birth worksheet completed for hospital or institutional births by giving the birth mother written notice that the information she provides is shared with the Department of Health and Human Services and other state agencies, and by allowing her to limit disclosure to the minimum amount necessary for vital records and public health purposes. If she elects to limit disclosure, that choice must be recorded in the hospital medical record, and personal identifiers must be redacted before statistical information is shared.
The bill also requires the Department of Health and Human Services and the Division of Vital Records to revise their memorandum of understanding so that it reflects the new privacy and consent process and ensures only the minimum necessary personal information is shared. The effective date would be 60 days after passage, and the agencies would need to update the MOU by November 1, 2026.
Impact
The bill would amend RSA 5-C:19 and RSA 126:24-cc to create a new disclosure-limitation option for birth mothers and to require agency coordination on how birth worksheet data is shared. In practice, it would reduce the amount of personally identifiable information available to DHHS and potentially other state agencies, while preserving limited statistical sharing for vital records and public health functions. The fiscal note indicates no direct appropriation or new positions, but it anticipates possible administrative costs for notices and potentially significant, indeterminable downstream impacts on DHHS programs, federal grant compliance, eligibility verification, child support, newborn screening, maternal mortality review, and other public health and human services activities.
Sentiment
The bill appears to be framed as a privacy and informed-consent measure, with sponsors seeking to give birth mothers more control over how personal information from the birth worksheet is shared. At the same time, the fiscal note shows substantial concern from DHHS and the Department of State about operational and funding consequences if access to identifiable birth data is reduced. No recorded votes or committee transcripts were provided, so the overall sentiment can only be inferred from the bill text and agency analysis: supportive of privacy protections, but cautious and potentially negative from the administrative and public health perspective.
Contention
The main point of contention is the tradeoff between privacy and government data access. Supporters of the bill are effectively prioritizing notice, consent, and limiting disclosure of personal identifiers, while DHHS argues that the same restriction could impair required state and federal functions. DHHS specifically warns that the bill could affect public health surveillance, newborn and hearing screening follow-up, maternal mortality reviews, child support enforcement, Medicaid and eligibility determinations, estate recovery, and multiple federal grant-funded programs. The Department of State also notes the need for new notices and MOU changes, and DHHS suggests the loss of identifiers could jeopardize federal funding and make some program functions difficult or impossible.
Health impact assessments required to be conducted in circumstances to assess the impact of proposed projects on human health, commissioner of health duties assigned, Environmental Quality Board rulemaking authorized, and money appropriated.