H.3420 would create a Shingles Vaccination Study Committee to investigate whether or not the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) should establish a shingles vaccination program for individuals who are sixty years of age or older. The study committee would be required to submit their report by the end of 2017, at which time the committee would be dissolved.
Study committees are one of the General Assembly’s favorite forms of ineffectual busywork. In this particular instance, it is unclear why another special program to provide healthcare for the elderly is needed, especially considering the provision of healthcare is not the role of government to begin with.