II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2151 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide liability protections 

for volunteer practitioners at health centers under section 330 of such Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 7, 2015 

Mr. THUNE (for himself and Mr. CASEY) 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 provide liability 

protections for volunteer practitioners at health centers 

under section 330 of such Act. 

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 ‘‘Family Health Care 

5 Accessibility Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIABILITY PROTECTIONS FOR HEALTH PROFES2 SIONAL VOLUNTEERS AT COMMUNITY 

3 HEALTH CENTERS. 

4 Section 224 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 233) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(q)(1) For purposes of this section, a health profes8 sional volunteer at an entity described in subsection (g)(4) 

9 shall, in providing a health professional service eligible for 

10 funding under section 330 to an individual, be deemed to 

11 be an employee of the Public Health Service for a calendar 

12 year that begins during a fiscal year for which a transfer 

13 was made under paragraph (4)(C). The preceding sen14 tence is subject to the provisions of this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(2) In providing a health service to an individual, 

16 a health care practitioner shall for purposes of this sub17 section be considered to be a health professional volunteer 

18 at an entity described in subsection (g)(4) if the following 

19 conditions are met: 

20 ‘‘(A) The service is provided to the individual at 

21 the facilities of an entity described in subsection 

22 (g)(4), or through offsite programs or events carried 

23 out by the entity. 

24 ‘‘(B) The entity is sponsoring the health care 

25 practitioner pursuant to paragraph (3)(B). 


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1 ‘‘(C) The health care practitioner does not re2 ceive any compensation for the service from the indi3 vidual or from any third-party payer (including re4 imbursement under any insurance policy or health 

5 plan, or under any Federal or State health benefits 

6 program), except that the health care practitioner 

7 may receive repayment from the entity described in 

8 subsection (g)(4) for reasonable expenses incurred 

9 by the health care practitioner in the provision of 

10 the service to the individual. 

11 ‘‘(D) Before the service is provided, the health 

12 care practitioner or the entity described in sub13 section (g)(4) posts a clear and conspicuous notice 

14 at the site where the service is provided of the extent 

15 to which the legal liability of the health care practi16 tioner is limited pursuant to this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(E) At the time the service is provided, the 

18 health care practitioner is licensed or certified in ac19 cordance with applicable law regarding the provision 

20 of the service. 

21 ‘‘(3) Subsection (g) (other than paragraphs (3) and 

22 (5)) and subsections (h), (i), and (l) apply to a health care 

23 practitioner for purposes of this subsection to the same 

24 extent and in the same manner as such subsections apply 

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1 tractor of an entity described in subsection (g)(4), subject 

2 to paragraph (4) and subject to the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) The first sentence of paragraph (1) ap4 plies in lieu of the first sentence of subsection 

5 (g)(1)(A). 

6 ‘‘(B) With respect to an entity described in sub7 section (g)(4), a health care practitioner is not a 

8 health professional volunteer at such entity unless 

9 the entity sponsors the health care practitioner. For 

10 purposes of this subsection, the entity shall be con11 sidered to be sponsoring the health care practitioner 

12 if— 

13 ‘‘(i) with respect to the health care practi14 tioner, the entity submits to the Secretary an 

15 application meeting the requirements of sub16 section (g)(1)(D); and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary, pursuant to subsection 

18 (g)(1)(E), determines that the health care prac19 titioner is deemed to be an employee of the 

20 Public Health Service. 

21 ‘‘(C) In the case of a health care practitioner 

22 who is determined by the Secretary pursuant to sub23 section (g)(1)(E) to be a health professional volun24 teer at such entity, this subsection applies to the 

25 health care practitioner (with respect to services perVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Oct 10, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2151.IS S2151

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1 formed on behalf of the entity sponsoring the health 

2 care practitioner pursuant to subparagraph (B)) for 

3 any cause of action arising from an act or omission 

4 of the health care practitioner occurring on or after 

5 the date on which the Secretary makes such deter6 mination. 

7 ‘‘(D) Subsection (g)(1)(F) applies to a health 

8 care practitioner for purposes of this subsection only 

9 to the extent that, in providing health services to an 

10 individual, each of the conditions specified in para11 graph (2) is met. 

12 ‘‘(4)(A) Amounts in the fund established under sub13 section (k)(2) shall be available for transfer under sub14 paragraph (C) for purposes of carrying out this sub15 section. 

16 ‘‘(B) Not later May 1 of each fiscal year, the Attor17 ney General, in consultation with the Secretary, shall sub18 mit to the Congress a report providing an estimate of the 

19 amount of claims (together with related fees and expenses 

20 of witnesses) that, by reason of the acts or omissions of 

21 health professional volunteers, will be paid pursuant to 

22 this section during the calendar year that begins in the 

23 following fiscal year. Subsection (k)(1)(B) applies to the 

24 estimate under the preceding sentence regarding health 

25 professional volunteers to the same extent and in the same 


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1 manner as such subsection applies to the estimate under 

2 such subsection regarding officers, governing board mem3 bers, employees, and contractors of entities described in 

4 subsection (g)(4). 

5 ‘‘(C) Not later than December 31 of each fiscal year, 

6 the Secretary shall transfer from the fund under sub7 section (k)(2) to the appropriate accounts in the Treasury 

8 an amount equal to the estimate made under subpara9 graph (B) for the calendar year beginning in such fiscal 

10 year, subject to the extent of amounts in the fund. 

11 ‘‘(5)(A) This subsection takes effect on October 1, 

12 2017, except as provided in subparagraph (B). 

13 ‘‘(B) Effective on the date of the enactment of this 

14 subsection— 

15 ‘‘(i) the Secretary may issue regulations for car16 rying out this subsection, and the Secretary may ac17 cept and consider applications submitted pursuant to 

18 paragraph (3)(B); and 

19 ‘‘(ii) reports under paragraph (4)(B) may be 

20 submitted to the Congress.’’. 

Æ 


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