HCS HB 1650 -- STATE LEGAL EXPENSE FUND AND SAFE CARE PROVIDERS

SPONSOR:  Cooper

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Health
Care Policy by a vote of 12 to 0.

This substitute adds a specialist; a licensed chiropractor; a
licensed health care professional under the direction of a
licensed physician or dentist; a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable
health care referral network; the professional corporation of a
physician organized under Chapter 356, RSMo; any Sexual Assault
Forensic Examination Child Abuse Resource Education (SAFE CARE)
provider; certain specified free health clinics; certain
specified charitable health care referral networks; and any
social welfare boards created under Section 205.770 to the list
of health care providers for whom the State Legal Expense Fund is
available for the payment of certain claims filed against a
provider.

Child abuse medical resource centers and providers receiving
training from the SAFE CARE network are allowed to collaborate to
promote improved services to children who are suspected victims
of abuse and need a forensic medical examination by providing
specialized training for forensic medical evaluations in a
hospital, child advocacy center, or by a private health care
professional without the need for a collaborative agreement
between the child abuse medical resource center and a SAFE CARE
provider.  The SAFE CARE network must develop recommendations for
medically based screening processes and forensic evidence
collection for emergency examinations of children who are alleged
victims of sexual assault and provide those recommendations to
the SAFE CARE providers, child advocacy centers, hospitals, and
licensed practitioners who provide these emergency examinations.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of More than
$100,000 in FY 2011, FY 2012, and FY 2013.  No impact on Other
State Funds in FY 2011, FY 2012, and FY 2013.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the bill adds legal service
coverage for health care providers who volunteer their services.
Patients seen at free clinics often need care that goes beyond
the scope of the clinic or the practitioners; therefore,
providers give free health care services and would like to have
legal protections for liability coverage.  The bill allows
physicians' staff to be covered by the fund making it easier for
referrals to be made to specialists and their staff to provide
free services to the uninsured and poor.  The risk to the state
is less than minimal.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Cooper; Bridget
McCanless, Jackson County Free Health Clinic; Linda Judah, Social
Welfare Board and Missouri Association of Free Clinics; and
Missouri State Medical Association.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:11 pm