The School-Based Respiratory Health Management Act, H.R. 2285, was filed on May 2, 2017, in the U.S. House of Representatives. Right now, states with laws that allow epinephrine to be stocked in schools have a better chance to get certain grants.

If this new bill passes, schools will have to do more to keep getting this special treatment. This bill would require states to also have laws that allow schools to keep asthma quick-relief medicines on hand. Like the epinephrine stocking law, school staff members who give quick-relief medicines without a prescription have legal protection.

The bill will also give preference to states with laws that require schools to have comprehensive management plans. Schools will have to:

• Create action plans for all students with allergies and asthma
• Educate staff
• Help reduce allergens and asthma triggers in the school
• Support families struggling with allergies and asthma

Schools must also have trained staff at hand during all operating hours to give medicines for both allergies and asthma.

A state can decide to not put these new measures in place. But the hope is that this bill will motivate states to pass these laws so they can get better access to grant money. With these changes, students with food allergies will receive more protections than they have now. Schools will have to develop and implement better ways to treat and prevent allergic reactions. AAFA supports this bill. (Read the full text of the bill.)