II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 527 

To improve access to emergency medical services, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2, 2017 

Mr. BLUNT introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To improve access to emergency medical services, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Health Care Safety 

5 Net Enhancement Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. 

7 The constitutional authority upon which this Act 

8 rests is the power of the Congress to provide for the gen9 eral welfare, to regulate commerce, and to make all laws 

10 which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into exeVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Mar 07, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S527.IS S527

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1 cution Federal powers, as enumerated in section 8 of arti2 cle I of the Constitution of the United States. 

3 SEC. 3. PROTECTION FOR EMERGENCY AND RELATED 

4 SERVICES FURNISHED PURSUANT TO 

5 EMTALA. 

6 Section 224(g) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 233(g)) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘An entity’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (6), an entity’’; 

10 and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(6)(A) For purposes of this section— 

13 ‘‘(i) an entity described in subparagraph (B) 

14 shall be considered to be an entity described in para15 graph (4); and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the provisions of this section shall apply to 

17 an entity described in subparagraph (B) in the same 

18 manner as such provisions apply to an entity de19 scribed in paragraph (4), except that— 

20 ‘‘(I) notwithstanding paragraph (1)(B), the 

21 deeming of any entity described in subpara22 graph (B), or of an officer, governing board 

23 member, employee, contractor, or on-call pro24 vider of such an entity, to be an employee of 

25 the Public Health Service for purposes of this 


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1 section shall apply only with respect to items 

2 and services that are furnished to an individual 

3 pursuant to section 1867 of the Social Security 

4 Act and to post stabilization services (as de5 fined in subparagraph (D)) furnished to such 

6 an individual; 

7 ‘‘(II) nothing in paragraph (1)(D) shall be 

8 construed as preventing a physician or physi9 cian group described in subparagraph (B)(ii) 

10 from making the application referred to in such 

11 paragraph or as conditioning the deeming of a 

12 physician or physician group that makes such 

13 an application upon receipt by the Secretary of 

14 an application from the hospital or emergency 

15 department that employs or contracts with the 

16 physician or group, or enlists the physician or 

17 physician group as an on-call provider; 

18 ‘‘(III) notwithstanding paragraph (3), this 

19 paragraph shall apply only with respect to 

20 causes of action arising from acts or omissions 

21 that occur on or after January 1, 2018; 

22 ‘‘(IV) paragraph (5) shall not apply to a 

23 physician or physician group described in sub24 paragraph (B)(ii); 


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1 ‘‘(V) the Attorney General, in consultation 

2 with the Secretary, shall make separate esti3 mates under subsection (k)(1) with respect to 

4 entities described in subparagraph (B) and enti5 ties described in paragraph (4) (other than 

6 those described in subparagraph (B)), and the 

7 Secretary shall establish separate funds under 

8 subsection (k)(2) with respect to such groups of 

9 entities, and any appropriations under this sub10 section for entities described in subparagraph 

11 (B) shall be separate from the amounts author12 ized by subsection (k)(2); 

13 ‘‘(VI) notwithstanding subsection (k)(2), 

14 the amount of the fund established by the Sec15 retary under such subsection with respect to en16 tities described in subparagraph (B) may ex17 ceed a total of $10,000,000 for a fiscal year; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(VII) subsection (m) shall not apply to 

20 entities described in subparagraph (B). 

21 ‘‘(B) An entity described in this subparagraph is— 

22 ‘‘(i) a hospital or an emergency department to 

23 which section 1867 of the Social Security Act ap24 plies; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a physician or physician group that is em2 ployed by, is under contract with, or is an on-call 

3 provider of such hospital or emergency department, 

4 to furnish items and services to individuals under 

5 such section. 

6 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘on7 call provider’ means a physician or physician group that— 

8 ‘‘(i) has full, temporary, or locum tenens staff 

9 privileges at a hospital or emergency department to 

10 which section 1867 of the Social Security Act ap11 plies; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) is not employed by or under contract with 

13 such hospital or emergency department, but agrees 

14 to be ready and available to provide services pursu15 ant to section 1867 of the Social Security Act or 

16 post stabilization services to individuals being treat17 ed in the hospital or emergency department with or 

18 without compensation from the hospital or emer19 gency department. 

20 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘post 

21 stabilization services’ means, with respect to an individual 

22 who has been treated by an entity described in subpara23 graph (B) for purposes of complying with section 1867 

24 of the Social Security Act, services that are— 


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1 ‘‘(i) related to the condition that was so treated; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) provided after the individual is stabilized 

4 in order to maintain the stabilized condition or to 

5 improve or resolve the condition of the individual. 

6 ‘‘(E)(i) Nothing in this paragraph (or in any other 

7 provision of this section as such provision applies to enti8 ties described in subparagraph (B) by operation of sub9 paragraph (A)) shall be construed as authorizing or re10 quiring the Secretary to make payments to such entities, 

11 the budget authority for which is not provided in advance 

12 by appropriation Acts. 

13 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall limit the total amount of 

14 payments under this paragraph for a fiscal year to the 

15 total amount appropriated in advance by appropriation 

16 Acts for such purpose for such fiscal year. If the total 

17 amount of payments that would otherwise be made under 

18 this paragraph for a fiscal year exceeds such total amount 

19 appropriated, the Secretary shall take such steps as may 

20 be necessary to ensure that the total amount of payments 

21 under this paragraph for such fiscal year does not exceed 

22 such total amount appropriated.’’. 

Æ 


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