I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 836 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2015 

Mr. DENT (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. GIBSON, Mr. BENISHEK, Mr. JOYCE, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. HANNA, 

Mr. RIBBLE, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. HARPER, Mr. KELLY of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. BARR, Mr. OLSON, Mr. ROE of 

Tennessee, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. HECK of 

Nevada, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. JOLLY, and Mr. BOUSTANY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

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 2015’’. 

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 genVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Feb 18, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H836.IH H836

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1 eral welfare, to regulate commerce, and to make all laws 

2 which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into exe3 cution Federal powers, as enumerated in section 8 of arti4 cle I of the Constitution of the United States. 

5 SEC. 3. PROTECTION FOR EMERGENCY AND RELATED 

6 SERVICES FURNISHED PURSUANT TO 

7 EMTALA. 

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

9 U.S.C. 233(g)) is amended— 

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

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

12 and 

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

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

15 ‘‘(i) an entity described in subparagraph 

16 (B) shall be considered to be an entity de17 scribed in paragraph (4); and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the provisions of this section shall 

19 apply to an entity described in subparagraph 

20 (B) in the same manner as such provisions 

21 apply to an entity described in paragraph (4), 

22 except that— 

23 ‘‘(I) notwithstanding paragraph 

24 (1)(B), the deeming of any entity described 

25 in subparagraph (B), or of an officer, govVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Feb 18, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H836.IH H836

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1 erning board member, employee, con2 tractor, or on-call provider of such an enti3 ty, to be an employee of the Public Health 

4 Service for purposes of this section shall 

5 apply only with respect to items and serv6 ices that are furnished to an individual 

7 pursuant to section 1867 of the Social Se8 curity Act and to post stabilization services 

9 (as defined in subparagraph (D)) furnished 

10 to such an individual; 

11 ‘‘(II) nothing in paragraph (1)(D) 

12 shall be construed as preventing a physi13 cian or physician group described in sub14 paragraph (B)(ii) from making the appli15 cation referred to in such paragraph or as 

16 conditioning the deeming of a physician or 

17 physician group that makes such an appli18 cation upon receipt by the Secretary of an 

19 application from the hospital or emergency 

20 department that employs or contracts with 

21 the physician or group, or enlists the phy22 sician or physician group as an on-call pro23 vider; 

24 ‘‘(III) notwithstanding paragraph (3), 

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1 spect to causes of action arising from acts 

2 or omissions that occur on or after Janu3 ary 1, 2016; 

4 ‘‘(IV) paragraph (5) shall not apply to 

5 a physician or physician group described in 

6 subparagraph (B)(ii); 

7 ‘‘(V) the Attorney General, in con8 sultation with the Secretary, shall make 

9 separate estimates under subsection (k)(1) 

10 with respect to entities described in sub11 paragraph (B) and entities described in 

12 paragraph (4) (other than those described 

13 in subparagraph (B)), and the Secretary 

14 shall establish separate funds under sub15 section (k)(2) with respect to such groups 

16 of entities, and any appropriations under 

17 this subsection for entities described in 

18 subparagraph (B) shall be separate from 

19 the amounts authorized by subsection 

20 (k)(2); 

21 ‘‘(VI) notwithstanding subsection 

22 (k)(2), the amount of the fund established 

23 by the Secretary under such subsection 

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1 paragraph (B) may exceed a total of 

2 $10,000,000 for a fiscal year; and 

3 ‘‘(VII) subsection (m) shall not apply 

4 to entities described in subparagraph (B). 

5 ‘‘(B) An entity described in this subparagraph 

6 is— 

7 ‘‘(i) a hospital or an emergency depart8 ment to which section 1867 of the Social Secu9 rity Act applies; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) a physician or physician group that is 

11 employed by, is under contract with, or is an 

12 on-call provider of such hospital or emergency 

13 department, to furnish items and services to in14 dividuals under such section. 

15 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term 

16 ‘on-call provider’ means a physician or physician 

17 group that— 

18 ‘‘(i) has full, temporary, or locum tenens 

19 staff privileges at a hospital or emergency de20 partment to which section 1867 of the Social 

21 Security Act applies; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) is not employed by or under contract 

23 with such hospital or emergency department, 

24 but agrees to be ready and available to provide 

25 services pursuant to section 1867 of the Social 


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1 Security Act or post stabilization services to in2 dividuals being treated in the hospital or emer3 gency department with or without compensation 

4 from the hospital or emergency department. 

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

6 ‘post stabilization services’ means, with respect to an 

7 individual who has been treated by an entity de8 scribed in subparagraph (B) for purposes of com9 plying with section 1867 of the Social Security Act, 

10 services that are— 

11 ‘‘(i) related to the condition that was so 

12 treated; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) provided after the individual is sta14 bilized in order to maintain the stabilized condi15 tion or to improve or resolve the condition of 

16 the individual. 

17 ‘‘(E)(i) Nothing in this paragraph (or in any 

18 other provision of this section as such provision ap19 plies to entities described in subparagraph (B) by 

20 operation of subparagraph (A)) shall be construed as 

21 authorizing or requiring the Secretary to make pay22 ments to such entities, the budget authority for 

23 which is not provided in advance by appropriation 

24 Acts. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall limit the total amount 

2 of payments under this paragraph for a fiscal year 

3 to the total amount appropriated in advance by ap4 propriation Acts for such purpose for such fiscal 

5 year. If the total amount of payments that would 

6 otherwise be made under this paragraph for a fiscal 

7 year exceeds such total amount appropriated, the 

8 Secretary shall take such steps as may be necessary 

9 to ensure that the total amount of payments under 

10 this paragraph for such fiscal year does not exceed 

11 such total amount appropriated.’’. 

Æ 


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