Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
                                           Act 510 of the Regular Session
 State of Arkansas                    As Engrossed:       S3/3/21
 93rd General Assembly                        A Bill
 Regular Session, 2021                                                             HOUSE BILL 1521
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 By: Representatives McCollum, Gonzales
 By: Senator Gilmore
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                                   For An Act To Be Entitled
                AN ACT TO CODIFY EXECUTIVE ORDERS 20-18 AND 20-34 TO
                ENSURE HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS ARE EQUIPPED WITH THE
                TOOLS NECESSARY TO COMBAT COVID-19 AND HAVE ACCESS TO
                HEALTHCARE RESOURCES TO TREAT COVID-19; TO DECLARE AN
                EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
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                                               Subtitle
                         TO CODIFY EXECUTIVE ORDERS 20-18 AND 20-
                         34 TO ENSURE HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS ARE
                         EQUIPPED WITH THE TOOLS NECESSARY TO
                         COMBAT COVID-19; AND TO DECLARE AN
                         EMERGENCY.
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 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
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        SECTION 1.        Arkansas Code Title 12, Chapter 75, Subchapter 1, is
 amended to add an additional section to read as follows:
        12-75-134.        COVID-19 pandemic  Definitions  Healthcare providers 
 Immunity.
        (a)    As used in this section:
                (1)      "COVID-19" means severe acute respiratory syndrome
 coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), or any other
 disease, health condition, or threat caused by severe acute respiratory
 syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or by any virus mutated from severe acute
 respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2);
                (2)      "Emergency management functions" means functions that
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     As Engrossed:     S3/3/21                                                    HB1521
 include:
                     (A)     Triage, diagnostic testing, or treatment, or a
 combination of triage, diagnostic testing, or treatment, provided to
 individuals who are known to have or suspected to have COVID-19;
                     (B)     Cancelling, postponing, or denying elective procedures
 or other routine care for an illness or condition that does not fall within
 the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic;
                     (C)     Redeploying of employees or contractors outside of
 their usual practice areas or not typically assigned to duties as described
 in subdivision (2)(A) or subdivision (2)(B) of this section, or both, within
 the employee's or contractor's licensure, certification, or scope of practice
 to the extent necessary to respond to staff shortages related to the COVID-19
 pandemic;
                     (D)     Planning to enact or enacting crisis standard-of-care
 measures, consistent with federal regulations and guidance, including without
 limitation waiving restrictions on numbers or locations of patient beds or
 staff-to-patient ratios, modifying the number of beds available, preserving
 personal protective equipment, and triaging or rationing access to
 treatments, services, or equipment; and
                     (E)     Reducing recordkeeping requirements to the extent
 necessary for healthcare providers to perform tasks as may be necessary to
 respond to the COVID-19 pandemic;
             (3)    "Healthcare provider" means:
                     (A)     An individual who is licensed, certified, or otherwise
 authorized by law to administer health care in the ordinary course of the
 practice of his or her profession; or
                     (B)     A partnership, association, corporation, or other
 facility or institution that employs or contracts with individuals to provide
 healthcare services in the normal course and scope of business or operation,
 whether for profit or not for profit; and
             (4)    "Healthcare service" means any care, treatment, service, or
 procedure performed by any healthcare provider to diagnose, treat, cure,
 mitigate, or prevent the illness or health condition that is causing a public
 health emergency.
      (b)    In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all healthcare providers
 licensed and permitted to practice in the state are requested to and may
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     As Engrossed:       S3/3/21                                                   HB1521
 provide:
               (1)    Services in support of this state and the administrators of
 this state; and
               (2)    Healthcare services, assistance, and advice.
      (c)   When necessary, a healthcare provider affected by COVID-19 shall
 remove limits on working hours for physicians, physician assistants,
 specialist assistants, nurse practitioners, licensed registered nurses, and
 licensed practical nurses to maintain adequate staffing and otherwise respond
 to COVID-19.
      (d)   For the purposes of diagnosing, treating, mitigating, or curing
 COVID-19, a healthcare provider may use any drug, device, or product:
               (1)    Approved or cleared under the Federal Food, Drug, and
 Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C.  301-392, as existing on January 1, 2021;
               (2)    Licensed under the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 
 201-291n, as existing on January 1, 2021; and
               (3)    Authorized for emergency use under an Investigational Device
 Exemption or Investigational New Drug Application of the Federal Food, Drug,
 and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C.  301-392, as existing on January 1, 2021.
      (e)(1)     A healthcare provider may:
                        (A)    Provide healthcare services that are directed at the
 treatment or mitigation of COVID-19 or its symptoms in response to the COVID-
 19 pandemic;
                        (B)    Perform healthcare services directed at the
 prevention, treatment, mitigation, or cure of COVID-19; and
                        (C)    Perform other emergency management functions related
 to COVID-19 within the scope of his or her licensure.
               (2)    A healthcare provider shall be considered an emergency
 responder when providing or performing healthcare services or functions as
 described by subdivision (e)(1) of this section and is subject to the same
 immunity from liability as provided in  12-75-128.
      (f)   In addition to immunity under  12-75-128, a healthcare provider
 is immune from liability:
               (1)(A)     For death, injury, or property damage alleged to have
 been sustained as a result of any act or omission by the healthcare provider
 in the course of performing emergency management functions related to COVID-
 19 if the act or omission:
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     As Engrossed:    S3/3/21                                                         HB1521
                             (i)    Occurs as a result of a good faith effort of the
 healthcare provider to provide a healthcare service for the diagnosis,
 treatment, cure, mitigation, or prevention of COVID-19; and
                             (ii)   Was the direct result of the healthcare
 provider's providing a healthcare service to a patient for the treatment and
 mitigation of COVID-19 or its symptoms.
                     (B)    However, the immunity under subdivision (f)(1)(A) of
 this section does not apply to an act or omission that is willful, reckless,
 or intentional misconduct; and
            (2)    For using any prescription drug or device to treat a patient
 who is known to have or suspected to have COVID-19 if:
                     (A)    The prescription of the drug or device is within the
 scope of the healthcare provider's license; and
                     (B)    The healthcare provider informs the patient of known
 positive and negative outcomes of the prescription drug or device and
 documents the informed consent of the patient to the treatment in the
 patient's medical record.
      (g)   This section expires on May 1, 2023, unless extended by the
 General Assembly.
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      SECTION 2.     EMERGENCY CLAUSE.        It is found and determined by the
 General Assembly of the State of Arkansas that the healthcare providers need
 flexibility and emergency procedures in place to combat COVID-19 and other
 medical pandemics; that healthcare providers should be shielded from lawsuits
 during the COVID-19 pandemic so as to protect them from potentially frivolous
 actions while the healthcare providers are battling to save lives; and that
 this act is immediately necessary because healthcare providers need legal
 protections, flexibility, and emergency procedures in place for pandemics in
 order to provide proper healthcare services, assistance, and advice during
 the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, an emergency is declared to exist, and this
 act being immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace,
 health, and safety shall become effective on:
            (1)    The date of its approval by the Governor;
            (2)    If the bill is neither approved nor vetoed by the Governor,
 the expiration of the period of time during which the Governor may veto the
 bill; or
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     As Engrossed:    S3/3/21                                                  HB1521
            (3)    If the bill is vetoed by the Governor and the veto is
 overridden, the date the last house overrides the veto.
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                                   /s/McCollum
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                                APPROVED: 4/1/21
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