House Bill No. 412

Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________



A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act revising the definition of "health care provider" for the AIDS Prevention Act to allow an out-of-state health care provider to order an HIV test for insurance companies; amending section

50-16-1003, MCA; and providing an immediate effective date."



Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:



Section 1.  Section 50-16-1003, MCA, is amended to read:

"50-16-1003.   Definitions. As used in this part, the following definitions apply:

(1)  "AIDS" means acquired immune deficiency syndrome as further defined by the department in accordance with standards promulgated by the centers for disease control of the United States public health service.

(2)  "Contact" means:

(a)  an individual identified by the subject of an HIV-related test as a past or present sexual partner or as a person with whom the subject has shared hypodermic needles or syringes; or

(b)  any other person who has been exposed to the test subject in a manner, voluntary or involuntary, that may allow HIV transmission in accordance with modes of transmission recognized by the centers for disease control of the United States public health service.

(3)  "Department" means the department of public health and human services provided for in 2-15-2201.

(4)  "Health care facility" means a health care institution, private or public, including but not limited to a hospital, nursing home, clinic, blood bank, blood center, sperm bank, or laboratory.

(5)  "Health care provider" means a person who is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by the laws of this state or who is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by the laws of another state to provide health care in the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession. The term does not include a person who provides health care solely through the sale or dispensing of drugs or medical devices.

(6)  "HIV" means the human immunodeficiency virus, identified as the causative agent of AIDS, and all HIV and HIV-related viruses that damage the cellular branch of the human immune or neurological systems and leave the infected person immunodeficient or neurologically impaired.

(7)  "HIV-related condition" means a chronic disease resulting from infection with HIV, including but not limited to AIDS and asymptomatic seropositivity for HIV.

(8)  "HIV-related test" means a test approved by the federal food and drug administration, including but not limited to an enzyme immunoassay and a western blot, that is designed to detect the presence of HIV or antibodies to HIV.

(9)  "Legal guardian" means a person appointed by a court to assume legal authority for another who has been found incapacitated or, in the case of a minor, a person who has legal custody of the minor.

(10) "Local board" means a county, city, city-county, or district board of health.

(11) "Local health officer" means a county, city, city-county, or district health officer appointed by the local board.

(12) "Next of kin" means an individual who is a parent, adult child, grandparent, adult sibling, or legal spouse of a person.

(13) "Person" means an individual, corporation, organization, or other legal entity.

(14) "Posttest counseling" means counseling, conducted at the time that the HIV-related test results are given, and includes, at a minimum, written materials provided by the department.

(15) "Pretest counseling" means the provision of counseling to the subject prior to conduct of an HIV-related test, including, at a minimum, written materials developed and provided by the department.

(16) "Release of test results" means a written authorization for disclosure of HIV-related test results that:

(a)  is signed and dated by the person tested or the person authorized to act for the person tested; and

(b)  specifies the nature of the information to be disclosed and to whom disclosure is authorized.

(17) "Significant other" means an individual living in a current spousal relationship with another individual but who is not legally a spouse of that individual.

(18) (a) "Written informed consent" means an agreement in writing that is freely executed by the subject of an HIV-related test, by the subject's legal guardian, or, if there is no legal guardian and the subject is unconscious or otherwise mentally incapacitated, by the subject's next of kin or significant other or a person designated by the subject in hospital records to act on the subject's behalf. The written informed consent must include at least the following:

(i)  an explanation of the test, including its purpose, potential uses, limitations, and the meaning of its results;

(ii) an explanation of the procedures to be followed for confidentiality, blood drawing specimen collection, and counseling, including notification that the test is voluntary and that consent may be withdrawn at any time until the blood sample specimen is taken;

(iii) an explanation of whether and to whom the subject's name and test results may be disclosed;

(iv) a statement that the test may be obtained anonymously if the subject wishes;

(v)  the name and address of a health care provider whom the subject approves to receive the subject's test results and to provide the subject with posttest counseling; and

(vi) if the consent is for a test being performed as part of an application for insurance, a statement that only a positive test result will be reported to the designated health care provider and that negative test results may be obtained by the subject from the insurance company.

(b)  The department shall develop an agreement form that may be used for purposes of this subsection (18)."



NEW SECTION. Section 2.  Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.

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