H. B. 2085
(By Delegates Burk and Beane)
[Introduced; February 10, 1993;referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article five-m, relating
to malpractice insurance for retired volunteer physicians;
providing a short title; defining certain terms; providing
that the department of health and human resources may
establish a program to pay the malpractice insurance for
retired volunteer physicians; limiting the liability of the
state for certain malpractice claims; requiring physicians
who participate to be licensed; and establishing certain
other conditions for participation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article five-m, to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 5M. MALPRACTICE INSURANCE FOR RETIRED VOLUNTEER
PHYSICIANS ACT.
§16-5M-1. Short title.
This act may be cited as the "Malpractice Insurance for
Retired Volunteer Physicians Act."
§16-5M-2. Definitions.
As used in this article:
(a) "Compensation" as used in section four of this article,
means any remuneration of value to a participating physician for
services provided by the physician, but shall not be construed to
include any nominal copayments charged by the clinic, nor
reimbursement of related expenses of a participating physician
authorized by the clinic in advance of being incurred.
(b) "Department" means the department of health and human
resources.
§16-5M-3. Establishment of program.
(a) The department may establish a program to purchase and
maintain liability malpractice insurance for retired physicians
who provide primary health care services at community clinics.
The following conditions apply to the program:
(1) Primary health care services shall be provided at
community clinics that are public or private tax-exempt
corporations;
(2) Primary health care services provided at the clinics
shall be offered to low-income patients based on their ability to
pay;
(3) Retired physicians providing health care services shallnot receive compensation for their services; and
(4) The department shall contract only with a liability
insurer authorized to offer liability malpractice insurance in
the state.
(b) This section and section four of this article shall not
be interpreted to require a liability insurer to provide coverage
to a physician should the insurer determine that coverage should
not be offered to a physician because of past claims experience
or for other appropriate reasons.
(c) The state and its employees who operate the program
shall be immune from any civil or criminal action involving
claims against clinics or physicians that provided health care
services under this section and section four of this article.
This protection or immunity shall not extend to any clinic or
physician participating in the program.
(d) The department may monitor the claims experience of
retired physicians covered by liability insurers contracting with
the department.
(e) The department may provide liability insurance under
this article only to the extent funds are provided for this
purpose by the Legislature.
§16-5M-4. Conditions for participations.
The department may establish by rule the conditions of
participation in the liability insurance program by retired
physicians at clinics utilizing retired physicians for the
purposes of this section and section three of this article. These conditions shall include, but not be limited to, the
following:
(1) The participating physician associated with the clinic
shall hold a valid license to practice medicine and surgery in
this state and otherwise be in conformity with current
requirements for licensure as a retired physician, including
continuing education requirements;
(2) The participating physician shall limit the scope of
practice in the clinic to primary care. Primary care shall be
limited to noninvasive procedures and shall not include
obstetrical care, or any specialized care and treatment.
Noninvasive procedures include injections, suturing of minor
lacerations, and incisions of boils or superficial abscesses;
(3) The provision of liability insurance coverage shall not
extend to acts outside the scope of rendering medical services
pursuant to this section and section three of this article;
(4) The participating physician shall limit the provision of
health care services to low-income persons provided that clinics
may, but are not required to, provide means tests for eligibility
as a condition for obtaining health care services;
(5) The participating physician shall not accept
compensation for providing health care services from patients
served pursuant to this section and section three of this
article, nor from clinics servicing these patients; and
(6) The use of mediation or arbitration for resolving
questions of potential liability may be used, however anymediation or arbitration agreement format shall be expressed in
terms clear enough for a person with a sixth-grade level of
education to understand, and on a form no longer than one page in
length.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the
department of Health and Human Resources to purchase and maintain
liability insurance for retired physicians who provide primary
care, without compensation, to low-income persons at public
health and community clinics. The bill limits liability of the
state for malpractice claims and specifies that physicians in the
program must be currently licensed as retirees and must limit
practice to primary noninvasive care procedures.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.