II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 781 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to limit the liability of health 

care professionals who volunteer to provide health care services in response to a disaster. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 30, 2017 

Mr. CASSIDY (for himself, Mr. KING, and Mr. MANCHIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to limit the liability 

of health care professionals who volunteer to provide 

health care services in response to a disaster. 

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 ‘‘Good Samaritan 

5 Health Professionals Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY FOR VOLUNTEER 

2 HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Public Health Serv4 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 202 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

5 after section 224 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 224A. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY FOR VOLUNTEER 

7 HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS. 

8 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—Except as provided 

9 in subsection (b), a health care professional shall not be 

10 liable under Federal or State law for any harm caused 

11 by an act or omission of the professional if— 

12 ‘‘(1) the professional is serving as a volunteer 

13 for purposes of responding to a disaster; and 

14 ‘‘(2) the act or omission occurs— 

15 ‘‘(A) during the period of the disaster, as 

16 determined under the laws listed in subsection 

17 (e)(1); 

18 ‘‘(B) in the health care professional’s ca19 pacity as such a volunteer; and 

20 ‘‘(C) in a good faith belief that the indi21 vidual being treated is in need of health care 

22 services. 

23 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) does not apply 

24 if— 

25 ‘‘(1) the harm was caused by an act or omission 

26 constituting willful or criminal misconduct, gross 


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1 negligence, reckless misconduct, or a conscious fla2 grant indifference to the rights or safety of the indi3 vidual harmed by the health care professional; or 

4 ‘‘(2) the health care professional rendered the 

5 health care services under the influence (as deter6 mined pursuant to applicable State law) of intoxi7 cating alcohol or an intoxicating drug. 

8 ‘‘(c) STANDARD OF PROOF.—In any civil action or 

9 proceeding against a health care professional claiming that 

10 the limitation in subsection (a) applies, the plaintiff shall 

11 have the burden of proving by clear and convincing evi12 dence the extent to which limitation does not apply. 

13 ‘‘(d) PREEMPTION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section preempts the 

15 laws of a State or any political subdivision of a State 

16 to the extent that such laws are inconsistent with 

17 this section, unless such laws provide greater protec18 tion from liability. 

19 ‘‘(2) VOLUNTEER PROTECTION ACT.—Protec20 tions afforded by this section are in addition to those 

21 provided by the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997. 

22 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) The term ‘disaster’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) a national emergency declared by the 

25 President under the National Emergencies Act; 


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1 ‘‘(B) an emergency or major disaster de2 clared by the President under the Robert T. 

3 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist4 ance Act; or 

5 ‘‘(C) a public health emergency determined 

6 by the Secretary under section 319 of this Act. 

7 ‘‘(2) The term ‘harm’ includes physical, non8 physical, economic, and noneconomic losses. 

9 ‘‘(3) The term ‘health care professional’ means 

10 an individual who is licensed, certified, or authorized 

11 in one or more States to practice a health care pro12 fession. 

13 ‘‘(4) The term ‘State’ includes each of the sev14 eral States, the District of Columbia, the Common15 wealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, 

16 American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, 

17 and any other territory or possession of the United 

18 States. 

19 ‘‘(5)(A) The term ‘volunteer’ means a health 

20 care professional who, with respect to the health 

21 care services rendered, does not receive— 

22 ‘‘(i) compensation; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) any other thing of value in lieu of 

24 compensation, in excess of $500 per year. 


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1 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the 

2 term ‘compensation’— 

3 ‘‘(i) includes payment under any insurance 

4 policy or health plan, or under any Federal or 

5 State health benefits program; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) excludes— 

7 ‘‘(I) reasonable reimbursement or al8 lowance for expenses actually incurred; 

9 ‘‘(II) receipt of paid leave; and 

10 ‘‘(III) receipt of items to be used ex11 clusively for rendering the health services 

12 in the health care professional’s capacity 

13 as a volunteer described in subsection 

14 (a)(1).’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—This Act and the amend17 ment made by subsection (a) shall take effect 90 

18 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

19 (2) APPLICATION.—This Act applies to any 

20 claim for harm caused by an act or omission of a 

21 health care professional where the claim is filed on 

22 or after the effective date of this Act, but only if the 

23 harm that is the subject of the claim or the conduct 

24 that caused such harm occurred on or after such ef25 fective date. 


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1 SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of the Congress that— 

3 (1) Federal and State agencies and licensing 

4 boards should cooperate to facilitate the timely 

5 movement of properly licensed volunteer health care 

6 professionals to areas affected by a disaster; and 

7 (2) the appropriate licensing entities should 

8 verify the licenses of volunteer health care profes9 sionals’ serving disaster victims as soon as is reason10 ably practical following a disaster. 

Æ 


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