I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 868

To amend title XVIII and title XIX of the Social Security Act to prohibit

expenditures under the Medicare program and Federal financial participation under the Medicaid program for assisted suicide, euthanasia,

or mercy killing, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 27, 1997

Mr. CAMP introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means,

and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To amend title XVIII and title XIX of the Social Security

Act to prohibit expenditures under the Medicare program

and Federal financial participation under the Medicaid

program for assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing, 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 ‘‘Integrity in Medical

5 Funding Act of 1997’’.
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1 SEC. 2. RESTRICTING TREATMENT OF ASSISTED SUICIDE

2 OR RELATED EXPENDITURES UNDER MEDI3 CARE.

4 (a) PROHIBITION OF EXPENDITURES.—Section

5 1862(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395y(a))

6 is amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph

8 (14);

9 (2) by striking the period at the end of para10 graph (15) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

11 (3) by inserting after paragraph (15) the fol12 lowing new paragraph:

13 ‘‘(16) where such expenses are for items or

14 services, or to assist in the purchase, in whole or in

15 part, of health benefit coverage that includes items

16 or services, for the purpose of causing, or assisting

17 in causing, the death, suicide, euthanasia, or mercy

18 killing of a person.’’.

19 (b) TREATMENT OF ADVANCE DIRECTIVES.—Section

20 1866(f) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395cc(f)) is amended by

21 adding at the end the following new paragraph:

22 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to

23 require any provider of services or prepaid or eligible orga24 nization, or any employee of such a provider or organiza25 tion, to inform or counsel any individual regarding any
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1 service which intentionally causes the death of any individ2 ual, such as assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy kill3 ing.’’.

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

5 this section shall apply to items and services furnished on

6 or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

7 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF FEDERAL FINANCIAL PARTICIPA8 TION UNDER MEDICAID FOR ASSISTED SUI9 CIDE OR RELATED EXPENDITURES.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1903(i) of the Social Se11 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b(i)) is amended—

12 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph

13 (14);

14 (2) by striking the period at the end of para15 graph (15) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

16 (3) by inserting after paragraph (15) the fol17 lowing new paragraph:

18 ‘‘(16) with respect to any amount expended for

19 items or services, or to assist in the purchase, in

20 whole or in part, of health benefit coverage that in21 cludes items or services, for the purpose of causing,

22 or assisting in causing, the death, suicide, eutha23 nasia, or mercy killing of a person.’’.

24 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

25 this section shall apply with respect to medical assistance
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1 furnished during quarters beginning on or after the date

2 of the enactment of this Act.

3 SEC. 4. PREEMPTION OF LIMITS ON MALPRACTICE AWARDS

4 ARISING FROM INTENTIONALLY CAUSING

5 THE DEATH OF ANY INDIVIDUAL.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—No provision of State or Federal

7 law shall apply that limits the amount of damages which

8 may be awarded under a health care liability action if the

9 injury which is the subject of the action arises from the

10 provision of any medical item or service for the purpose

11 of causing the death of any individual, or from the failure

12 to provide any medical item or service to an individual

13 against the direction of the individual or the individual’s

14 agent or surrogate for the purpose of causing the death

15 of the individual.

16 (b) HEALTH CARE LIABILITY ACTION DEFINED.—

17 The term ‘‘health care liability action’’ means a civil action

18 brought in a State or Federal court against a health care

19 provider, an entity which is obligated to provide or pay

20 for health benefits under any health benefit plan (includ21 ing any person or entity acting under a contract or ar22 rangement to provide or administer any health benefit),

23 or the manufacturer, distributor, supplier, marketer, pro24 moter, or seller of a medical product, in which the claim25 ant alleges a claim (including third party claims, cross
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1 claims, counter claims, or distribution claims) based upon

2 the provision of (or the failure to provide or pay for)

3 health care services or the use of a medical product, re4 gardless of the theory of liability on which the claim is

5 based or the number of plaintiffs, defendants, or causes

6 of action.

7 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with

8 respect to any health care liability action which is initiated

9 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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