1.This Act may be cited as the
Medical Rights Act of
2009
.
2.Prohibition on
restrictions on the practice of medicine and other health care
professions
(a)Subject to subsection
(b), no Federal funds shall be used to permit any Federal officer or employee
to exercise any supervision or control over—
(1)the practice of
medicine, the practice of other health care professions, or the manner in which
health care services are provided;
(2)the provision, by
a physician or a health care practitioner, of advice to a patient about the
patient’s health status or recommended treatment for a condition or
disease;
(3)the selection,
tenure, or compensation of any officer, employee, or contractor of any
institution, business, non-Federal agency, or individual providing health care
services; or
(4)the administration
or operation of any such institution, business, non-Federal agency, or
individual, with respect to the provision of health care services to a
patient.
(b)Preserving
certain current programsSubsection (a) shall not prohibit the
Federal government from operating, managing, supervising employees of, or
defining the scope of services provided by Federal entities when directly
providing health care services and products, only with respect to the
following:
(1)The Veterans Health Administration—
(A)in the case of directly providing health
care services through its own facilities and by its own employees; or
(B)in the case of
coordinating health care services not described in subparagraph (A) and paid
for with Federal funds under programs operated by the Veterans Health
Administration.
(2)The Department of
Defense—
(A)in the case of directly providing health
care services through military treatment facilities;
(B)in the case of
paying for health care services for active-duty members of the armed forces or
members of the reserve component when called to active duty;
(C)in the case of
directly providing health care services to the public in the event of emergency
or under other lawful circumstances; or
(D)when necessary to
determine whether health care services provided to those who are not
active-duty members of the Armed Forces are eligible for payment with Federal
funds or to coordinate health care services for patients who are served by both
non-Federal entities and military treatment facilities.
(3)The United States
Public Health Service—
(A)in the case of providing health care
services through its own facilities or by its officers or civilian Federal
employees;
(B)in the case of
providing or paying for health care services to active-duty members of
uniformed services or to reserve members of such services when called to active
duty; or
(C)when necessary to
determine whether health care services provided to those who are not
active-duty members of uniformed services are eligible for payment with Federal
funds or to coordinate health care services for patients who are served by both
non-Federal entities and Public Health Service treatment facilities
(4)The Indian Health
Service—
(A)in the case of directly providing health
care services through its own facilities or Federal employees; or
(B)in the case of
providing care by non-Federal entities, to the extent necessary to administer
contracts and grants pursuant to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act;
(5)The National
Institutes of Health—
(A)in the case of providing direct patient
care incident to medical research; or
(B)in the case of administering grants for
medical research, but in no case shall a non-Federal entity be required or
requested to waive the protections of subsection (a) for health care services
not incident to medical research funded by the National Institutes of Health as
a condition of receiving research grant funding from the National Institutes of
Health.
(6)The Health Resources and Services
Administration—
(A)in the case of certifying federally
qualified health centers, as defined by section 1905(l)(2)(B) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(l)(2)(B)), certifying FQHC look-alike status, as
defined in section 413.65(n) of title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or
providing grants under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
254b), but only to the extent necessary to determine eligibility for such
certification and grant funding and the appropriate amounts of such funding;
or
(B)in the case of
operating the nation’s human organ, bone marrow, and umbilical cord blood
donation and transplantation systems, as and to the extent authorized by law
and necessary for the operation of those programs.
3.Right to contract
for health care services and health insurance
(a)Receipt of
health servicesNo Federal funds shall be used by any Federal
officer or employee to prohibit any individual from receiving health care
services from any provider of health care services—
(1)under terms and
conditions mutually acceptable to the patient and the provider; or
(2)under terms and
conditions mutually acceptable to the patient, the provider, and any group
health plan or health insurance issuer that is obligated to provide health
insurance coverage to the patient or any other entity indemnifying the
patient’s consumption of health care services;
provided
that any such agreement shall be subject to the requirements of section 1802(b)
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395a(b)), as amended by section
6.(b)Health insurance
coverageNo Federal funds
shall be used by any Federal officer or employee to prohibit any person from
entering into a contract with any group health plan, health insurance issuer,
or other business, for the provision of, or payment to other parties for,
health care services to be determined and provided subsequent to the effective
date of the contract, according to terms, conditions, and procedures specified
in such contract.
(c)Eligibility for
Federal benefitsNo person’s
eligibility for benefits under any program operated by or funded wholly or
partly by the Federal Government shall be adversely affected as a result of
having received services in a manner described by subsection (a) or having
entered into a contract described in subsection (b).
(d)Federal program
participationNo provider of
health care services—
(1)shall be denied
participation in a Federal program for which it would otherwise be eligible as
a result of having provided services in a manner described in subsection (a);
or
(2)shall be denied
payment for services otherwise eligible for payment under a Federal program as
a result of having provided services in a manner described in subsection (a),
except to the extent required by subsection (a)(1).
4.Prohibition on
mandating State restrictions
(a)No Federal funds
shall be used by any Federal officer or employee to induce or encourage any
State or other jurisdiction of the United States to enact any restriction or
prohibition prohibited to the Federal Government by this Act.
(b)Protecting State
eligibility for Federal fundsNo State’s eligibility for participation in
any program operated by or funded wholly or partly by the Federal Government,
or for receiving funds from the Federal Government shall be conditioned on that
State enacting any restriction or prohibition prohibited to the Federal
Government by this Act, nor adversely affected by that State’s failure to enact
any restriction or prohibition prohibited to the Federal Government by this
Act.
5.Nothing in this Act shall be construed to
permit the expenditure of funds otherwise prohibited by law.
6.Section 1802(b)(3)
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395(2)(B)) is hereby repealed.
7.For purposes of this Act:
(1)The term health care services means any
lawful service intended to diagnose, cure, prevent, or mitigate the adverse
effects of any disease, injury, infirmity, or physical or mental disability,
including the provision of any lawful product the use of which is so
intended.
(2)The term “physician” means—
(A)a doctor of
medicine or osteopathy legally authorized to practice medicine and surgery by
the State in which he performs such practice and surgery;
(B)a doctor of dental
surgery or of dental medicine who is legally authorized to practice dentistry
by the State in which he performs such function and who is acting within the
scope of his license when he performs such functions;
(C)a doctor of podiatric medicine but only
with respect to functions which he is legally authorized to perform as such by
the State in which he performs them;
(D)a doctor of optometry with respect to the
provision of items or services which he is legally authorized to perform as a
doctor of optometry by the State in which he performs them; or
(E)a chiropractor who is licensed as such by
the State (or in a State which does not license chiropractors as such, is
legally authorized to perform the services of a chiropractor in the
jurisdiction in which he performs such services), but only with respect to
treatment which he is legally authorized to perform by the State or
jurisdiction in which such treatment is provided.
(3)The term practice of medicine means—
(A)health care services that are performed by
physicians; and
(B)services and
supplies furnished as an incident to a physician’s professional service.
(4)The term
health care practitioner means a physician assistant, registered
nurse, nurse practitioner, psychologist, clinical social worker, midwife, or
other individual (other than a physician) licensed or legally authorized to
perform health care services in the State in which the individual performs such
services.
(5)Practice of
other health care professionsThe term practice of other
health care professions means—
(A)health care
services performed by a health care practitioner; and
(B)services and supplies furnished as an
incident to a health care practitioner’s professional service.
(6)The term group health plan has the meaning
given such term in section 733(a)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1191b(a)(1)).
(7)The term health insurance issuer has the
meaning given such term in section 733(b)(2) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1191b(b)(2)).
(8)The
term business means any sole proprietorship, partnership,
for-profit corporation, or not-for-profit corporation.
(9)The term State means any of
the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American
Samoa, or the District of Columbia.
8.The provisions of this
Act shall apply to Federal entities, including employees and officials of such
entities, beginning on January 1, 2009.