Health care facility access.

WORKING DRAFT
2010
STATE OF
WYOMING
10LSO-0215

SENATE FILE
NO.
SF0073

Health care facility access.

Sponsored by:
Senator(s) Sessions, Dockstader, Hastert, Hunnicutt and Landen and Representative(s) Davison and Esquibel, K.

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to
public health and safety; providing that specified health care facilities
and providers
shall not discriminate against patients
based on ability to pay or source of payment
; providing for notices, reporting and recordkeeping; granting investigative authority;
providing penalties;
and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of
Wyoming
:

Section 1.

W.S. 35
‑
2
‑
913 is created to read:

35
‑
2
‑
913.

Community service required.

(a)

After June 30, 2011,
any
health care facility or health care provider as defined in W.S. 1
‑
1
‑
130(b)(i)
that receives
any

funds appropriated by the legislature from nonfederal sources
or funds from a local government as defined in W.S. 1
‑
39
‑
103(a)(ii)
shall, as part of its application for an initial or renewal license under this article, submit assurance that the facility is available to a
ny
person residing in the facility's
or provider's
service area without discrimination on the basis of the person's
ability to pay or source of payment
.

(b)

For purposes of this section, a facility
or provider
is out of compliance with its community service assurance if it uses an admission policy that has the effect of excluding a person on the basis of the person's
ability to pay or the fact that the person's source of payment is a particular private or public third party payor
.

(c)

Facilities
and providers
subject to this section shall post notices prominently in appropriate areas of the facility to inform patients that the facility
or provider
does not discriminate based on a person's
ability to pay or the source of payment for a person's medical bills
. Notices shall be supplied by or in a manner approved by the department.

(d)

The department may periodically require a facility
or provider
to submit a report to the department to substantiate compliance with this section. The department shall prescribe the contents and maximum frequency of the report in its rules and regulations.

(e)

A facility
or provider
subject to this section shall maintain, consistent with privacy requirements under federal and state law, records necessary to document its compliance with this section in any licensing year, and shall maintain the records for one (1) year after the close of a licensing year.

(f)

The department shall have the authority to investigate complaints of violations of this section, including access upon reasonable notice to records and persons relevant to the complaint.

(g)

If the department finds
,
based on its investigation that a facility
or provider
has limited the availability of its services in a manner proscribed by this section, the department may take any one (1) or more of the following actions:

(i)

Require the facility
or provider
to establish an effective affirmative action plan that is designed to insure that
the facility's
or provider's
services are made available in accordance with the requirements of this section;

(ii)

Require the facility
or provider
to refund to the department for transfer to the state treasurer and deposit into the general fund an amount equal to all funds received by the facility
or provider
from state appropriated nonfederal
or local government
sources during the three (3) month period immediately preceding the violation.

Section 2.

This act is effective July 1, 2010.

(END)

1
SF0073