II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1350 

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 

MAY 7, 2019 

Mr. CASSIDY (for himself, Mr. KING, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. 

CRAMER, Mr. WICKER, Ms. MURKOWSKI, 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 2019’’. 


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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 in the provision 

12 of health care services if— 

13 ‘‘(1) the professional is serving, for purposes of 

14 responding to a disaster, as a volunteer; and 

15 ‘‘(2) the act or omission occurs— 

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

17 determined under the laws listed in subsection 

18 (d)(1); 

19 ‘‘(B) in the State or States for which the 

20 disaster is declared; 

21 ‘‘(C) in the health care professional’s ca22 pacity as a volunteer; 

23 ‘‘(D) in the course of providing services 

24 that are within the scope of the license, reg25 istration, or certification of the volunteer, as deVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 May 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1350.IS S1350

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1 fined by the State of licensure, registration, or 

2 certification; and 

3 ‘‘(E) in a good faith belief that the indi4 vidual being treated is in need of health care 

5 services. 

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

7 if— 

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

9 constituting willful or criminal misconduct, gross 

10 negligence, reckless misconduct, or a conscious fla11 grant indifference to the rights or safety of the indi12 vidual harmed by the health care professional; or 

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

14 health care services under the influence (as deter15 mined pursuant to applicable State law) of alcohol 

16 or an intoxicating drug. 

17 ‘‘(c) PREEMPTION.— 

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

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

20 to the extent that such laws are inconsistent with 

21 this section, unless such laws provide greater protec22 tion from liability. 

23 ‘‘(2) VOLUNTEER PROTECTION ACT.—Protec24 tions afforded by this section are in addition to those 

25 provided by the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997. 


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1 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) The term ‘disaster’ means— 

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

4 President under the National Emergencies Act; 

5 ‘‘(B) an emergency or major disaster de6 clared by the President under the Robert T. 

7 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist8 ance Act; or 

9 ‘‘(C) a public health emergency that is de10 termined by the Secretary under section 319 of 

11 this Act with respect to one or more States 

12 specified in such determination— 

13 ‘‘(i) during only the initial period cov14 ered by such determination; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) excluding any period covered by 

16 a renewal of such determination. 

17 ‘‘(2) The term ‘harm’ includes physical, non18 physical, economic, and noneconomic losses. 

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

20 an individual who is licensed, registered, or certified 

21 under Federal or State law to provide health care 

22 services. 

23 ‘‘(4) The term ‘health care services’ means any 

24 services provided by a health care professional, or by 


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1 any individual working under the supervision of a 

2 health care professional, that relate to— 

3 ‘‘(A) the diagnosis, prevention, or treat4 ment of any human disease or impairment; or 

5 ‘‘(B) the assessment or care of the health 

6 of a human being. 

7 ‘‘(5) The term ‘State’ includes each of the sev8 eral States, the District of Columbia, the Common9 wealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, 

10 American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, 

11 and any other territory or possession of the United 

12 States. 

13 ‘‘(6)(A) The term ‘volunteer’ means a health 

14 care professional who, with respect to the health 

15 care services rendered, does not receive— 

16 ‘‘(i) compensation; or 

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

18 compensation, in excess of $500 per year. 

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

20 term ‘compensation’— 

21 ‘‘(i) includes payment under any insurance 

22 policy or health plan, or under any Federal or 

23 State health benefits program; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) excludes— 


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1 ‘‘(I) reasonable reimbursement or al2 lowance for expenses actually incurred; 

3 ‘‘(II) receipt of paid leave; and 

4 ‘‘(III) receipt of items to be used ex5 clusively for rendering the health services 

6 in the health care professional’s capacity 

7 as a volunteer described in subsection 

8 (a)(1).’’. 

9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 224A of the Public 

11 Health Service Act, as added by subsection (a), shall 

12 take effect 90 days after the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act. 

14 (2) APPLICATION.—Section 224A of the Public 

15 Health Service Act, as added by subsection (a), ap16 plies to a claim for harm only if the act or omission 

17 that caused such harm occurred on or after the ef18 fective date described in paragraph (1). 

19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that— 

21 (1) health care professionals should be encour22 aged to register with the Emergency System for Ad23 vance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals 

24 (ESAR–VHP), and States should employ online reg25 istration with the promptest processing possible of 


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1 such registrations to foster the rapid deployment 

2 and utilization of volunteer health care professionals 

3 following a disaster; 

4 (2) Federal and State agencies and licensing 

5 boards should cooperate to facilitate the timely 

6 movement of properly licensed volunteer health care 

7 professionals to areas affected by a disaster; and 

8 (3) the appropriate licensing entities should 

9 verify the licenses of volunteer health care profes10 sionals serving disaster victims as soon as is reason11 ably practical following a disaster. 

Æ 


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