State gives green light to vaccine incentives

When state Rep. Jennifer Carlson (R-Manhattan) presented House Bill 702 to her fellow lawmakers, she touted it as a straightforward piece of legislation.

“I’m not going to talk a long time about this bill because it is a very simple concept,” Carlson told the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee in April. “What it does is prohibit discrimination based on your vaccination status.”

But in recent weeks, implementing the newly enacted bill has caused confusion among state and local public health officials and hampered at least one effort to incentivize vaccines in Lincoln County.

In late May, volunteers with Team 56, a local public health organization, called off a prize drawing contest for residents who had received doses of the coronavirus vaccine. The group had intended to kick-start the program at local public schools until learning that the effort could violate the ban on vaccination requirements.

Elsie Arntzen, state superintendent of instruction, heard from parents on May 21 that administrators with the Libby Middle High School had promoted the drawing, according to Chris Averill, a spokesperson with the state Office of Public Instruction.

“As custom when the superintendent of OPI receives such concerns, she shared them with the local superintendent, as well as the Montana School Boards Association (MSBA), for further consideration,” Averill wrote in a May 21 statement.

Ron Goodman, superintendent of the Libby School District, said MSBA officials told local administrators that the school’s promotion of the drawing might constitute a violation of the vaccine discrimination law. The only way to test the new restrictions would be to take the case to court, an outcome administrators hoped to avoid.

On Thursday, however, Team 56 received a letter from the state Department of Public Health and Human Services saying their drawing was permissible under the new law. In the letter, Jim Murphy, division administrator with DPHHS, said department officials had reviewed vaccine incentive efforts with Gov. Greg Gianforte’s office.

“At this time, we have been advised to proceed with incentives in an effort to improve vaccination rates and prevent a resurgence of disease,” Murphy wrote.

State officials also gave the county health department a green light to pursue incentive programs last week, according to Jennifer McCully, county public health manager. McCully was unsure if the county would organize a program to boost vaccine numbers as of May 28 but said local officials were looking into potential funding streams.

Despite the news from DPHHS, Susie Rice, a member of Team 56, said the group had not yet revived their drawing contest. Since Team 56 operates under the nonprofit status of Lincoln County Unite for Youth, Rice said the team was waiting to hear back from their parent group before resuming the program.

Over the past month, public health officials across the country have organized similar drawing contests to promote vaccination efforts. States including Ohio, New York, Maryland and Kentucky now offer lotteries — some with jackpots over a million of dollars — for residents who receive coronavirus vaccine doses.

The federal government lent its backing to these programs last week by allowing states to draw funds from the American Rescue Plan Act — a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill — to set up vaccination incentives.

Despite questions raised by HB 702, some Montana communities, including Butte and Missoula, have already pressed ahead with incentive programs.

While she found parts of the bill ambiguous, McCully noted the legislation does not explicitly forbid promoting vaccines. When Carlson expounded on what constituted discrimination based on immunization status, she spoke on preventing public and private entities from restricting goods, services and employment.

Public schools may still request student immunization records under the bill. Like all states, Montana requires students to receive certain vaccines including polio, hepatitis B and chickenpox. Families can still apply for a medical or religious exemption to this requirement.