I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 816 
To prevent the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act from establishing 
health care provider standards of care in medical malpractice or medical 
product liability cases, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 18, 2011 
Mr. GINGREY of Georgia (for himself, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, 
Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. GRAVES of Mis-
souri, and Mr. BENISHEK) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 
the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To prevent the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 
from establishing health care provider standards of care 
in medical malpractice or medical product liability cases, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Provider Shield Act 
of 2011’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONSTRUCTION REGARDING HEALTH CARE PRO-
VIDER STANDARDS OF CARE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The development, recognition, or 
implementation of any guideline or other standard under 
any health care reform provision shall not be construed 
to establish the standard of care or duty of care owed by 
a health care provider to a patient in any medical mal-
practice or medical product liability case. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘health care reform provision’’ 
means any provision of the Patient Protection and 
Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148) and the 
amendments made by that Act, including the fol-
lowing: 
(A) Section 2701 (relating to adult health 
quality measures). 
(B) Section 2702 (relating to payment ad-
justment for health care-acquired conditions). 
(C) Section 3001 (relating to hospital 
value-based purchasing program). 
(D) Section 3002 (relating to improve-
ments to the physician quality reporting sys-
tem). 
(E) Section 3003 (relating to improve-
ments to the physician feedback program). 
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(F) Section 3007 (relating to value-based 
payment modifier under the physician fee 
schedule). 
(G) Section 3008 (relating to payment ad-
justment for conditions acquired in hospitals). 
(H) Section 3013 (relating to quality 
measure development). 
(I) Section 3014 (relating to quality meas-
urement). 
(J) Section 3021 (relating to establishment 
of Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation 
within CMS). 
(K) Section 3025 (relating to hospital re-
admissions reduction program). 
(L) Section 3501 (relating to health care 
delivery system research; quality improvement 
technical assistance). 
(M) Section 4003 (relating to clinical and 
community preventive services). 
(N) Section 4301 (relating to research on 
optimizing the delivery of public health serv-
ices). 
(2) The term ‘‘medical malpractice or medical 
product liability case’’ means a medical malpractice 
action or claim (as defined in section 431(7) of the 
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Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 (42 
U.S.C. 11151(7))) and includes a liability action or 
claim relating to a health care provider’s prescrip-
tion or provision of a drug, device, or biological 
product (as such terms are defined in section 201 of 
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or sec-
tion 351 of the Public Health Service Act). 
(3) The term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of 
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and any other common-
wealth, possession, or territory of the United States. 
(c) SAVINGS CLAUSE FOR STATE MEDICAL MAL-
PRACTICE
OR MEDICAL PRODUCT LIABILITY LAWS.— 
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify or pre-
empt any substantive or procedural state law governing 
medical malpractice or medical product liability cases or 
to impair State authority regarding legal standards or pro-
cedures used in medical malpractice or medical product 
liability cases. 
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3512 of the 
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 
111–148) is repealed. 
Æ 
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