Bill Text: MI SB0499 | 2009-2010 | 95th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Health; occupations; employee accommodation act; create. Creates new act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-04-30 - Referred To Committee On Health Policy [SB0499 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2009-SB0499-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL No. 499
April 30, 2009, Introduced by Senators KAHN, PATTERSON, KUIPERS, VAN WOERKOM and BROWN and referred to the Committee on Health Policy.
A bill to provide standards for personnel policies to protect
and accommodate the right of health care providers who object to
providing or participating in certain health care services under
certain circumstances; to provide for protection from certain
liability; and to prescribe penalties and provide remedies.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"employee accommodation act".
Sec. 3. As used in this act:
(a) "Health care provider" means a person licensed,
registered, or otherwise authorized to engage in a health
profession under article 15 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368,
MCL 333.16101 to 333.18838, a student of a health facility, or
another person who is employed by or under contract with a health
facility and directly participates in the provision of a health
care service. Health care provider does not include a sanitarian or
a veterinarian.
(b) "Health care service" means the provision or withdrawal
of, or research or experimentation involving, a medical diagnosis,
treatment, procedure, diagnostic test, device, medication, drug, or
other substance intended to affect the physical or mental condition
of an individual.
(c) "Health facility" means any of the following:
(i) A clinical laboratory.
(ii) A county medical care facility.
(iii) A freestanding surgical outpatient facility.
(iv) A home for the aged.
(v) A hospital.
(vi) A nursing home.
(vii) A hospice.
(viii) A hospice residence.
(ix) A facility or agency listed in subparagraphs (i) to (vi)
located in a university, college, or other educational institution.
(x) A private physician's office.
(xi) A medical clinic.
(xii) A public or private institution that provides health care
services to an individual.
(xiii) A teaching institution that provides health care services
to an individual.
(xiv) A pharmacy that provides health care services to an
individual.
(xv) A corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, limited
liability company, or other legal entity that provides health care
services to an individual.
(d) "Medical director" means that term as defined in section
20906 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.20906.
(e) "Participate" or "participating" means, at a minimum, to
counsel, refer, perform, administer, prescribe, dispense, treat,
withhold, withdraw, diagnose, test, evaluate, train, research,
prepare, or provide medical advice or material or physical
assistance in a health care service.
(f) "Person" means a person as defined in section 1106 of the
public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.1106, or a governmental
entity.
(g) "Public health emergency" means a condition or situation
that presents an immediate threat to the public health, safety, or
welfare and requires immediate action to preserve the public
health, safety, or welfare.
(h) "Reasonable accommodation" means assigned duties and work
schedule consistent with the health care provider's typical duties
and responsibilities.
(i) "Refer" means to make a recommendation or give information
to a patient regarding a specific health care provider or health
facility that provides health care services.
(j) "Regular or substantial portion" means that 10% or more of
the health care provider's daily or weekly hours of duty consist of
providing or participating in that health care service.
Sec. 5. (1) A health care provider may request reasonable
accommodation to avoid providing or participating in a health care
service to which the health care provider objects on ethical,
moral, or religious grounds.
(2) A health care provider shall request reasonable
accommodation described in subsection (1) in writing. The written
request shall be given directly to his or her supervisor and shall
include a statement explaining his or her objection and the health
care service or services to which he or she specifically objects to
providing or participating in under this act.
(3) A health care provider may request reasonable
accommodation under any of the following conditions:
(a) Upon being offered employment.
(b) At the time the health care provider adopts an ethical,
moral, or religious belief system that conflicts with participation
in a health care service.
(c) Within 24 hours after he or she is asked or has received
notice that he or she is scheduled to participate in a health care
service to which he or she objects.
Sec. 7. (1) An employer shall retain a health care provider's
written request filed under section 5 for the duration of the
health care provider's employment. The written request is valid for
the duration of the health care provider's employment or until
rescinded by the health care provider in writing.
(2) Within 7 days after receiving a written request pursuant
to section 5, an employer shall develop a plan for reasonable
accommodation with the health care provider to ensure that the
health care provider will not be scheduled or requested to
participate in a health care service to which he or she
specifically objects.
(3) An employer shall not ask a prospective employee regarding
his or her objection or potential objection to a health care
service unless participation in that health care service is a
regular or substantial portion of the normal course of duties for
the position or staff privileges the prospective employee is
seeking.
(4) An employer shall not refuse employment or staff
privileges to a health care provider who is known by the employer
to have previously requested or is currently requesting reasonable
accommodation under section 5 unless participation in that health
care service is a regular or substantial portion of the normal
course of duties for that position or staff privileges.
(5) A medical school or other institution for the education or
training of a health care provider shall not refuse admission to an
individual or penalize that individual because the individual has
filed in writing with the medical school or other institution a
request for reasonable accommodation under section 5.
Sec. 9. (1) The protections afforded to a health care provider
under this act do not apply to a health care provider who has
submitted to his or her supervisor a written request regarding the
providing or participating in a certain health care service under
any of the following circumstances:
(a) A patient's condition, in the reasonable medical judgment
of an attending physician or medical director, requires immediate
action and no other qualified health care provider is available to
provide that health care service.
(b) In the event of a public health emergency.
(c) If a health care provider first submits a request
contemporaneously to a patient's requiring or requesting the
objectionable health care service and no other health care provider
is available to provide the health care service.
(d) If the request is based on the status of the patient,
including, but not limited to, the patient's religion, race, color,
national origin, age, gender, height, weight, familial status,
marital status, participation in high-risk activities, past or
present medical disease or condition, sexual orientation,
employment status, insurance coverage, ability to pay, or method of
payment.
(e) If the request is made orally in the presence of a patient
seeking a health care service to which the health care provider
objects.
(2) This act does not relieve a health care provider from a
duty that exists under any other law pertaining to current
standards of acceptable health care practice and procedure to
inform a patient of the patient's condition, prognosis, risk of
receiving or forgoing relevant health care services for the
condition, including the availability of a health care service to
which the health care provider objects.
(3) Subject to a collective bargaining agreement, if a health
care provider submits a request regarding a health care service
that at the time the request is submitted constitutes a regular or
substantial portion of the health care provider's current and
defined position, the employer may give the health care provider
not less than 60 days' notice of the termination of his or her
employment.
Sec. 11. (1) Except as provided in section 9, a health care
provider's objection to providing or participating in a health care
service as described in section 5 shall not be the basis for 1 or
more of the following:
(a) Civil liability to another person.
(b) Criminal action.
(c) Administrative or licensure action.
(2) If a health care provider is required by his or her
employer to participate in a health care service more than 7 days
after the health care provider has submitted a written request
regarding that health care service, the health care provider is
immune from civil liability in an action arising from his or her
participation in that health care service.
Sec. 13. (1) A civil action for damages or reinstatement of
employment, or both, may be brought against a person, including,
but not limited to, a governmental agency, health facility, or
other employer, for penalizing or discriminating against a health
care provider, including, but not limited to, penalizing or
discriminating in hiring, promotion, transfer, a term or condition
of employment, licensing, or granting of staff privileges or
appointments, solely because that health care provider has
submitted a request regarding participating in a health care
service under section 5. Civil damages may be awarded equal to the
amount of proven damages and attorney fees. A civil action filed
under this subsection may include a petition for injunctive relief
against a person alleged to have penalized or discriminated against
a health care provider as described in this subsection.
(2) A person who violates this act is responsible for a state
civil infraction and may be ordered to pay a fine of not more than
$1,000.00 for each day the violation continues or a fine of not
more than $1,000.00 for each occurrence.
