Title: Health Care Safety Net Enhancement Act of 2017
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Health Care Safety Net Enhancement Act of 2017
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to deem a hospital or an emergency department and a physician or physician group of a hospital or emergency department to be an employee of the Public Health Service with liability protection provided by the United States for purposes of any civil action that may arise due to providing emergency or post-stabilization services on or after January 1, 2018.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 527 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 527

    To improve access to emergency medical services, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 2, 2017

   Mr. Blunt introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To improve access to emergency medical services, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Health Care Safety Net Enhancement 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.

    The constitutional authority upon which this Act rests is the power 
of the Congress to provide for the general welfare, to regulate 
commerce, and to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying into execution Federal powers, as enumerated in section 8 of 
article I of the Constitution of the United States.

SEC. 3. 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 described in paragraph (4); and
            ``(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, governing board member, employee, contractor, 
                or on-call provider of such an entity, to be an 
                employee of the Public Health Service for purposes of 
                this section shall apply only with respect to items and 
                services that are furnished to an individual pursuant 
                to section 1867 of the Social Security 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 physician or physician group 
                described in subparagraph (B)(ii) from making the 
                application referred to in such paragraph or as 
                conditioning the deeming of a physician or physician 
                group that makes such an application 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 physician or 
                physician group as an on-call provider;
                    ``(III) notwithstanding paragraph (3), this 
                paragraph shall apply only with respect to causes of 
                action arising from acts or omissions that occur on or 
                after January 1, 2018;
                    ``(IV) paragraph (5) shall not apply to a physician 
                or physician group described in subparagraph (B)(ii);
                    ``(V) the Attorney General, in consultation with 
                the Secretary, shall make separate estimates under 
                subsection (k)(1) with respect to entities described in 
                subparagraph (B) and entities described in paragraph 
                (4) (other than those described in subparagraph (B)), 
                and the Secretary shall establish separate funds under 
                subsection (k)(2) with respect to such groups of 
                entities, and any appropriations under this subsection 
                for entities described in 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 
                subparagraph (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 department to which 
        section 1867 of the Social Security 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 individuals under such section.
    ``(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term `on-call provider' 
means a physician or physician group that--
            ``(i) has full, temporary, or locum tenens staff privileges 
        at a hospital or emergency department 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 
        individuals being treated in the hospital or emergency 
        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 described in subparagraph (B) for purposes of complying 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 stabilized in order 
        to maintain the stabilized condition or to improve or resolve 
        the condition of the individual.
    ``(E)(i) Nothing in this paragraph (or in any other provision of 
this section as such provision applies to entities described in 
subparagraph (B) by operation of subparagraph (A)) shall be construed 
as authorizing or requiring the Secretary to make payments to such 
entities, the budget authority for which is not provided in advance by 
appropriation Acts.
    ``(ii) The Secretary shall limit the total amount of payments under 
this paragraph for a fiscal year to the total amount appropriated in 
advance by appropriation Acts for such purpose for such fiscal year. If 
the total amount of payments that would otherwise be made under this 
paragraph for a fiscal year exceeds such total amount appropriated, the 
Secretary shall take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that the 
total amount of payments under this paragraph for such fiscal year does 
not exceed such total amount appropriated.''.
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