sion of law established by or under this subtitle (including 
State standards of negligence) shall be governed by other-
wise applicable State or Federal law. 
(2) This subtitle shall not preempt or supersede any 
State or Federal law that imposes greater procedural or 
substantive protections for health care providers and 
health care organizations from liability, loss, or damages 
than those provided by this subtitle or create a cause of 
action. 
(c) STATE FLEXIBILITY.—No provision of this sub-
title shall be construed to preempt— 
(1) any State law (whether effective before, on, 
or after the date of the enactment of this title) that 
specifies a particular monetary amount of compen-
satory or punitive damages (or the total amount of 
damages) that may be awarded in a health care law-
suit, regardless of whether such monetary amount is 
greater or lesser than is provided for under this sub-
title, notwithstanding section 704(a); or 
(2) any defense available to a party in a health 
care lawsuit under any other provision of State or 
Federal law. 
SEC. 711. APPLICABILITY; EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This subtitle shall apply to any health care lawsuit 
brought in a Federal or State court, or subject to an alter-
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native dispute resolution system, that is initiated on or 
after the date of the enactment of this title, except that 
any health care lawsuit arising from an injury occurring 
prior to the date of the enactment of this title shall be 
governed by the applicable statute of limitations provisions 
in effect at the time the injury occurred. 
Subtitle B—Health Care Safety Net 
Enhancement 
SEC. 721. SHORT TITLE. 
This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Health Care Safety 
Net Enhancement Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 722. PROTECTION FOR EMERGENCY AND RELATED 
SERVICES 
FURNISHED 
PURSUANT 
TO 
EMTALA. 
Section 224(g) of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 233(g)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘An entity’’ 
and inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (6), an entity’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6)(A) For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(i) an entity described in subparagraph 
(B) shall be considered to be an entity de-
scribed in paragraph (4); and 
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‘‘(ii) the provisions of this section shall 
apply to an entity described in subparagraph 
(B) in the same manner as such provisions 
apply to an entity described in paragraph (4), 
except that— 
‘‘(I) 
notwithstanding 
paragraph 
(1)(B), the deeming of any entity described 
in subparagraph (B), or of an officer, gov-
erning board member, employee, con-
tractor, or on-call provider of such an enti-
ty, to be an employee of the Public Health 
Service for purposes of this section shall 
apply only with respect to items and serv-
ices that are furnished to an individual 
pursuant to section 1867 of the Social Se-
curity Act and to post stabilization services 
(as defined in subparagraph (D)) furnished 
to such an individual; 
‘‘(II) nothing in paragraph (1)(D) 
shall be construed as preventing a physi-
cian or physician group described in sub-
paragraph (B)(ii) from making the appli-
cation referred to in such paragraph or as 
conditioning the deeming of a physician or 
physician group that makes such an appli-
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cation upon receipt by the Secretary of an 
application from the hospital or emergency 
department that employs or contracts with 
the physician or group, or enlists the phy-
sician or physician group as an on-call pro-
vider; 
‘‘(III) notwithstanding paragraph (3), 
this paragraph shall apply only with re-
spect to causes of action arising from acts 
or omissions that occur on or after Janu-
ary 1, 2012; 
‘‘(IV) paragraph (5) shall not apply to 
a physician or physician group described in 
subparagraph (B)(ii); 
‘‘(V) the Attorney General, in con-
sultation with the Secretary, shall make 
separate estimates under subsection (k)(1) 
with respect to entities described in sub-
paragraph (B) and entities described in 
paragraph (4) (other than those described 
in subparagraph (B)), and the Secretary 
shall establish separate funds under sub-
section (k)(2) with respect to such groups 
of entities, and any appropriations under 
this subsection for entities described in 
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subparagraph (B) shall be separate from 
the amounts authorized by subsection 
(k)(2); 
‘‘(VI) 
notwithstanding 
subsection 
(k)(2), the amount of the fund established 
by the Secretary under such subsection 
with respect to entities described in sub-
paragraph (B) may exceed a total of 
$10,000,000 for a fiscal year; and 
‘‘(VII) subsection (m) shall not apply 
to entities described in subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(B) An entity described in this subparagraph 
is— 
‘‘(i) a hospital or an emergency depart-
ment to which section 1867 of the Social Secu-
rity Act applies; and 
‘‘(ii) a physician or physician group that is 
employed by, is under contract with, or is an 
on-call provider of such hospital or emergency 
department, to furnish items and services to in-
dividuals under such section. 
‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term 
‘on-call provider’ means a physician or physician 
group that— 
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‘‘(i) has full, temporary, or locum tenens 
staff privileges at a hospital or emergency de-
partment to which section 1867 of the Social 
Security Act applies; and 
‘‘(ii) is not employed by or under contract 
with such hospital or emergency department, 
but agrees to be ready and available to provide 
services pursuant to section 1867 of the Social 
Security Act or post-stabilization services to in-
dividuals being treated in the hospital or emer-
gency department with or without compensation 
from the hospital or emergency department. 
‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph, the term 
‘post stabilization services’ means, with respect to an 
individual who has been treated by an entity de-
scribed in subparagraph (B) for purposes of com-
plying with section 1867 of the Social Security Act, 
services that are— 
‘‘(i) related to the condition that was so 
treated; and 
‘‘(ii) provided after the individual is sta-
bilized in order to maintain the stabilized condi-
tion or to improve or resolve the condition of 
the individual. 
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