Bill Text: HI HB1636 | 2010 | Regular Session | Amended

Hawaii House Bill 1636 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: On-Call Emergency Room Physicians; Insurance; Prohibitions

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2009-05-11 - Carried over to 2010 Regular Session. [HB1636 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2010-HB1636-Amended.html

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1038

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1636

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Madam:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 1636, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMERGENCY MEDICAL PHYSICIANS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to provide immunity from any civil liability to all physicians who render emergency medical care in a hospital.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, the Queen's Medical Center, Hawaii Emergency Physicians Associated, Inc., and the Hawaii Medical Association. Testimony in opposition of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii Association for Justice.

Written testimony presented to the Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

Your Committee finds that proponents of this measure have argued that providing immunity to physicians from any civil liability will address Hawaii's shortage of emergency room physicians. However, your Committee finds that, according to The American College of Emergency Physicians report, The National Report Card on the State of Emergency Medicine 2009, Hawaii ranks number one in the nation in the number of board certified emergency medical doctors. A national shortage of emergency on‑call specialists exists. The Hawaii specific data does not support the contention that these specialists are leaving Hawaii to work in one of the few states that have implemented a version of tort reform.

Your Committee is concerned that on-call physicians who provide emergency medical care are consistently over-worked because of the shortage. However, the measure does not include a provision that would provide protection for patients who are cared for in this precarious situation.

Your Committee further finds that the measure is overly broad as written in that it allows for complete immunity from civil liability for negligent acts or omissions of any physician who provides emergency medical care to a person with a "serious bodily injury". "Serious bodily injury" could include the majority of patients admitted to a hospital; therefore, expanding immunity beyond that which addresses the specific issue of on-call emergency medical care shortages.

Your Committee finds that physicians in private practice who volunteer to serve on-call, with or without compensation, to assist hospital staff physicians provide critical medical services to the public. A more effective way of addressing the shortage of these physicians is to ensure that they are not penalized for their voluntary participation by finding it more difficult or expensive to obtain and maintain professional errors and omissions liability insurance coverage solely because they voluntarily participate on hospital on-call panels.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by replacing its contents with language that:

(1) Prohibits the use of a physician's on-call status from being considered for any purpose, including the solicitation, application, underwriting, and issuance of insurance coverage, and the setting of premium rates, discounts, rebates, and the renewal or cancellation of insurance coverage; and

(2) Changes the effective date to July 1, 2009.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1636, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1636, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair