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HB0027 • 2022
Visitation rights.
AN ACT relating to public health and safety; establishing visitation rights and limitations; and providing for an effective date.
Crime
Healthcare
Did Not Pass
The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.
- Sponsor
- Representative Fortner
- Last action
- 2022-03-08
- Official status
- inactive
- Effective date
- 3/1/2022
Plain English Breakdown
The bill did not pass and therefore its provisions are not enforceable.
Visitation Rights for Healthcare Facilities
The bill establishes rules allowing visitors to see people in certain healthcare facilities while also letting the facilities set limits on visitation.
What This Bill Does
- Creates a new law that says specific types of healthcare places must let visitors come see patients.
- Lists which kinds of healthcare places are covered, like hospitals and nursing homes.
- Says some people can't have visitors if they're there because the government put them there or if they're in jail.
- Gives healthcare facilities permission to set rules about how many visitors can come, when they can visit, and what safety measures must be followed.
- Requires healthcare places to give patients or their family a written copy of the visiting rules.
Who It Names or Affects
- People who are in certain healthcare facilities like hospitals and nursing homes.
- Visitors who want to see people in these healthcare places.
- Healthcare facilities that provide around-the-clock care.
Terms To Know
- Involuntary Detention
- When a person is kept in a place like a hospital or mental health facility by the government, not because they want to be there.
- Healthcare Facility
- A place that provides medical care and treatment for people who are sick or injured.
Limits and Unknowns
- The bill does not apply to people who are in healthcare facilities because they were put there by the government or are in jail.
- It is unclear how this law will be enforced or what happens if a facility breaks these rules.
- The effective date of July 1, 2022, was set but the bill did not pass.
Amendments
These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.
Plain English: The amendment changes which organizations can make rules about visitation rights by replacing 'regulatory agencies' with specific health-related organizations.
- Replaces 'regulatory agencies' with the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, the Centers for Disease Control, or the Joint Commission.
- The amendment does not specify how these changes will affect existing visitation rights rules or what new limitations might be set by these organizations.
Plain English: The amendment adds a new requirement for healthcare facilities to manage visitations according to public health guidelines while maintaining control over their operations.
- Healthcare facilities must now follow federal, state, and county public health and safety rules when scheduling visits.
- The amendment does not specify what the 'requirements imposed under this section' are, which could be unclear without additional context.
Plain English: The amendment adds a specific reference to Wyoming Statute 35-1-240 in the existing requirements for visitation rights.
- Adds 'under W.S. 35-1-240 or' after 'requirements otherwise required' in the bill.
- The amendment does not provide details about what Wyoming Statute 35-1-240 entails, so its full impact is unclear without additional context.
HB0027HS001
Standing Committee • House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee
Adopted
Plain English: The amendment changes the bill's title to include limitations and removes certain lines, while adding new rules for health care facilities regarding visitation rights.
- Adds 'and limitations' after 'rights' in the bill's title.
- Removes specific lines from the original text that were numbered as lines 10 through 13 on page 1.
- Inserts a new section allowing visitation for people receiving care at certain health care facilities, with exceptions and conditions.
- The exact content removed in lines 10 through 13 is not provided, making it unclear what was deleted.
Plain English: The amendment removes certain restrictions on visitation rights at skilled nursing facilities, allowing more visitors for patients under specific conditions.
- Removes previous limitations and replaces them with new rules that allow visits from two or more people per day for most patients who have been in the facility for over five days or are near death.
- Allows unlimited visitation for individuals determined to be at end of life.
- Gives patients or their representatives the right to choose who can visit.
- The amendment does not specify how facilities should handle visits from people involuntarily detained under certain laws or adults convicted of crimes in state custody.
HB0027SS001
Standing Committee • Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee
Filed
Plain English: The amendment removes certain limitations and provisions from the bill and adds new rules allowing for visitation rights in health care facilities after a five-day stay.
- Removes language about limitations on visitation rights.
- Adds new rules that require health care facilities to allow visitation for patients who have been there more than five days.
- Allows patients or their representatives to choose who can visit them.
- The amendment does not specify what happens if a patient has been in the facility less than five days.
Bill History
-
2022-03-08
Senate
S COW:S Did not consider for COW
-
2022-03-04
Senate
S Placed on General File
-
2022-03-04
Senate
S10 - Labor:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 3-2-0-0-0
-
2022-03-02
Senate
S Introduced and Referred to S10 - Labor
-
2022-03-02
Senate
S Received for Introduction
-
2022-03-01
House
H 3rd Reading:Passed 39-20-1-0-0
-
2022-02-28
House
H 2nd Reading:Passed
-
2022-02-25
House
H 2nd Reading:Laid Back
-
2022-02-24
House
H COW:Passed
-
2022-02-22
House
H Placed on General File
-
2022-02-22
House
H10 - Labor:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 5-4-0-0-0
-
2022-02-16
House
H Introduced and Referred to H10 - Labor 42-17-1-0-0
-
2022-02-11
House
H Received for Introduction
-
2022-01-11
LSO
Bill Number Assigned
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
22LSO-0007
2022
STATE OF WYOMING
22LSO-0007
ENGROSSED
3.0
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0027
Visitation rights.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Fortner, Bear, Laursen, Neiman and Ottman and Senator(s) Bouchard, French, James and McKeown
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to public health and safety; establishing visitation rights and limitations; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1.
W.S. 35
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2
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914 is created to read:
35
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2
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914.
Visitation rights.
A health care facility that normally provides twenty-four (24) hour per day care including a hospice, hospital, intermediate care facility, nursing care facility, psychiatric care facility, residential rehabilitation facility or assisted living facility shall allow visitation
for a person receiving care in that facility. This section shall not apply to persons involuntarily detained under W.S. 25-10-109 or adults who have been convicted of a crime and are in the custody of the state or a local jurisdiction. The health care facility may impose and enforce restrictions on visitation that limit the number or age of visitors, limit the location or time of visitation, require protective equipment or impose requirements otherwise required under W.S. 35-1-240 or by the centers for Medicaid and Medicare services, the centers for disease control or the joint commission. A health care facility shall provide a written copy of its visitation policy to every person admitted to the facility or to his representative and shall visibly post in the facility one (1) copy of the most current regulatory guidance that imposes visitation restrictions. The health care facility shall allow the person receiving care or that person's representative to designate persons as visitors or to prohibit some or all visitation under this section.
Section 2
.
This act is effective July 1, 2022
.
(END)
1
HB0027