2023 Arizona Revised Statutes › Title 36 - Public Health and Safety › § 36-850.01 - Organ transplant eligibility; individuals with disabilities; discrimination prohibited

36-850.01.
Organ transplant eligibility;  individuals with disabilities;  discrimination prohibited
A. A health care provider may not,  solely on the basis of an individual's disability,  do any of the following:
1. Determine that the individual is ineligible to receive an organ transplant.
2. Deny the individual medical or other services related to an organ transplant,  including evaluation,  surgery,  counseling and postoperative treatment.
3. Refuse to refer the individual to a transplant hospital or other related specialist for evaluation or receipt of an organ transplant.
4. Refuse to place the individual on an organ transplant waiting list or place the individual at a position lower in priority on the list than the position the individual would be placed if not for the individual's disability.
5. Decline insurance coverage for the individual for any procedure associated with the receipt of an organ transplant or for related services if the procedure or services would be covered under such insurance for the individual if not for the individual's disability.
B. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section,  a health care provider may consider an individual's disability when making a treatment recommendation or decision solely to the extent that a physician,  following an individualized evaluation of the potential transplant recipient,  determines that the disability is medically significant to the organ transplant. This subsection does not require a referral or recommendation for,  or the performance of,  a medically inappropriate organ transplant.
C. A health care provider may not consider an individual's inability to independently comply with posttransplant medical requirements as medically significant for the purposes of subsection B of this section if the individual has a known disability and the necessary support system to assist the individual in reasonably complying with the requirements.
D. A health care facility shall make reasonable modifications in its policies,  practices or procedures as necessary to allow individuals with a disability access to organ transplant-related services,  including transplant-related counseling,  information or treatment,  unless the health care facility can demonstrate that making the modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the services or would impose an undue hardship on the health care facility. Reasonable modifications in policies,  practices and procedures may include:
1. Communicating with persons supporting or assisting with the individual's postsurgical and posttransplant care,  including medication.
2. Considering the support available to the individual in determining whether the individual is able to reasonably comply with posttransplant medical requirements,  including support provided by any of the following:
(a) Family.
(b) Friends.
(c) Home and community-based services,  including home and community-based services funded by any of the following:
(i) Medicaid.
(ii) Medicare.
(iii) A health plan in which the individual is enrolled.
(iv) Any other program or source of funding available to the individual.
E. A health care provider shall make reasonable efforts to comply with the policies,  practices and procedures,  as applicable,  developed by a health care facility under subsection D of this section as necessary to allow an individual with a known disability access to organ transplant-related services,  including transplant-related counseling,  information or treatment,  unless the health care provider can demonstrate that compliance would fundamentally alter the nature of the services or would impose an undue hardship on the health care provider.
F. A health care provider shall make reasonable efforts to provide auxiliary aids and services to an individual with a known disability seeking organ transplant-related services,  including organ transplant-related counseling,  information or treatment,  as necessary to allow the individual access to those services,  unless the health care provider can demonstrate that providing the transplant-related services with auxiliary aids and services would fundamentally alter the transplant-related services provided or would impose an undue hardship on the health care provider.
G. A health care provider shall comply with the requirements of the Americans with disabilities act of 1990 (42 United States Code sections 12101 through 12213) to the extent that act applies to the health care provider. This subsection does not require a health care provider to comply with that act if the act does not otherwise require compliance by the health care provider.
H. This section applies to each stage of the organ transplant process and related services to an organ transplant,  including all of the following:
1. Evaluation.
2. Counseling.
3. Treatment,  including postoperative treatment and care.
4. Providing information.
5. Any other service recommended or required by a physician.
I. A violation of this section by a health care provider is grounds for disciplinary action by the regulatory agency or board that issued the license,  certificate or other authority to the health care provider. Before a regulatory agency or board may take disciplinary action against a health care provider for a violation,  the applicable regulatory agency or board shall both:
1. Notify the health care provider of the agency's or board's finding that the health care provider violated or is violating this section or a rule adopted pursuant to this section.
2. Provide the health care provider with an opportunity to correct the violation without penalty or reprimand.
J. A physician who in good faith determines that an individual's disability is medically significant,  as described in subsection B of this section,  to the organ transplant does not violate this section.
K. A health care provider who in good faith makes a treatment recommendation or decision on the basis of a physician's determination that an individual's disability is medically significant,  as described in subsection B of this section,  to the organ transplant does not violate this section.