I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3962 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide liability protections 
for employees and contractors of health centers under section 330 of 
such Act who provide health services in emergency areas. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 
Mr. SCHWARZ of Michigan introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide liability 
protections for employees and contractors of health cen-
ters under section 330 of such Act who provide health 
services in emergency areas. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT; LIABILITY PRO-
TECTIONS 
FOR 
HEALTH-CENTER 
PRACTI-
TIONERS PROVIDING SERVICES IN EMER-
GENCY AREAS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 224(g) of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 233(g)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘sub-
paragraph (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (C) 
and paragraph (6)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following para-
graph: 
‘‘(6)(A) Subject to subparagraph (C), paragraph 
(1)(B)(ii) applies to health services provided to individuals 
who are not patients of the entity involved if, as deter-
mined under criteria issued by the Secretary, the following 
conditions are met: 
‘‘(i) The services are provided by a contractor 
or employee of the entity who is a physician or other 
licensed or certified health care practitioner and who 
is otherwise deemed to be an employee for purposes 
of paragraph (1)(A) when providing services with re-
spect to the entity. 
‘‘(ii) The services are provided in an emergency 
area (as defined in subparagraph (D)). 
‘‘(iii) The services of the contractor or employee 
(referred to in this paragraph as the ‘out-of-area 
practitioner’) are provided under an arrangement 
with— 
‘‘(I) an entity that is deemed to be an em-
ployee for purposes of paragraph (1)(A) and 
that serves the emergency area involved (re-
ferred to in this paragraph as an ‘emergency- 
area entity)’; or 
‘‘(II) a Federal agency that has respon-
sibilities regarding the provision of health serv-
ices in such area during the emergency. 
‘‘(iv) The purposes of the arrangement are— 
‘‘(I) to coordinate, to the extent prac-
ticable, the provision of health services in the 
emergency area by the out-of-area practitioner 
with the provision of services by the emergency- 
area entity, or by the Federal agency, as the 
case may be; 
‘‘(II) to identify a location in the emer-
gency area to which such practitioner should re-
port for purposes of providing health services, 
and to identify an individual or individuals in 
the area to whom the practitioner should report 
for such purposes; and 
‘‘(III) to verify the identity of the practi-
tioner and that the practitioner is licensed or 
certified by one or more of the States. 
‘‘(v) With respect to the licensure or certifi-
cation of health care practitioners, the provision of 
services by the out-of-area practitioner in the emer-
gency area is not a violation of the law of the State 
in which the area is located. 
‘‘(B) In issuing criteria under subparagraph (A), the 
Secretary shall take into account the need to rapidly enter 
into arrangements under such subparagraph in order to 
provide health services in emergency areas promptly after 
the emergency begins. 
‘‘(C) Subparagraph (A) applies with respect to an act 
or omission of an out-of-area practitioner only to the ex-
tent that the practitioner is not immune from liability for 
such act or omission under the Volunteer Protection Act 
of 1997. 
‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘emer-
gency area’ means a geographic area for which— 
‘‘(i) the Secretary has made a determination 
under section 319 that a public health emergency 
exists; or 
‘‘(ii) a presidential declaration of major disaster 
has been issued under section 401 of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—With respect to paragraph 
(6) of section 224(g) of the Public Health Service Act, 
as added by subsection (a) of this section:
(1) Except as provided in this subsection, an 
arrangement under subparagraph (A)(iii) of such 
paragraph (6) is deemed to be in effect for any 
health professional who, within the meaning of such 
paragraph— 
(A) is an employee or contractor of a 
health center under section 330 of such Act; 
and 
(B) served or is serving as an out-of-area 
practitioner in any emergency area declared as 
a result of Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane 
Rita. 
(2) Such paragraph (6) is deemed to have 
taken effect on August 27, 2005, for purposes of 
paragraph (1) of this subsection. Such paragraph 
(6) otherwise takes effect on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
(3) Paragraph (1) of this subsection applies 
until the expiration of the 48-hour period beginning 
on the date on which the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services publishes in the Federal Register a 
notice that the applicability of such paragraph is 
being terminated. 
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