Gun Owners’ Privacy and Access to Health Care Act Exposed

The Gun Owners' Privacy and Access to Health Care Act was considered by ALEC's Public Safety and Elections Task Force at the 2011 Annual Meeting on August 4, 2011. This bill was part of the ALEC task force agenda between 2010 and 2012, but due to incomplete information, it is not known if the bill passed in a vote by legislators and lobbyists at ALEC task force meetings, if ALEC sought to distance itself from the bill as the public increased scrutiny of its pay-to-play activities, or if key operative language from the bill has been introduced by an ALEC legislator in a state legislature in the ensuing period or became binding law.

ALEC Draft Bill Text

Summary

This Act prevents health care practitioners from denying care to patients who lawfully own firearms. The Act prevents insurers from charging premium rates or denying coverage simply because a policyholder legally possesses firearms. This Act also ensures that health care practitioners may still obtain information about a patient’s firearm or ammunition-related activity that is directly relevant to that patient’s own treatment.

Legislation

{Title, enacting clause, etc.}

Section 1. {Title}

This Act may be cited as the "Gun Owners’ Privacy and Access to Health Care Act”

Section 2. {Legislative Intent; Findings}

The legislature finds that:

(A) Individuals have a right under the constitutions of [insert state] and the United States to keep and bear arms, which arms include firearms and their ammunition;

(B) An individual’s decision to exercise this right is a private matter;

(C) [Insert state]’s law generally prohibits the keeping of registries or lists of privately- owned firearms [if applicable];

(D) Lawfully possessed, stored, and used firearms and ammunition are not a risk to public health;

(E) Health care practitioners do not have any special expertise in the safe storage or use of firearms or ammunition merely by virtue of their status as health care practitioners, and to the degree health care practitioners have general advice to impart concerning firearms and ammunition, they may do so without knowing whether any particular patient actually possesses or uses these items;

(F) Health care practitioners do not have a need to know whether a patient lawfully possesses or uses firearms or ammunition unless the patient specifically exhibits symptoms of illness or injury that the health care practitioner could reasonably attribute to the possession or use of firearms or ammunition or unless the patient has expressed a desire to harm the patient’s self or others;

(G) Patients should not be compelled to participate in a health care practitioner’s gathering of statistical or demographic information about the use, storage, and possession of firearms and ammunition for research or other purposes not directly related to the patient’s own treatment;

(H) A patient’s decisions about the lawful possession or use of firearms or ammunition or about whether to disclose such decisions is not a proper basis for a health care practitioner to determine who the practitioner will or will not treat; and

(I) Patients have been denied care based on the refusal to answer unwarranted inquiries about constitutionally-protected conduct related to firearms and ammunition, and such denials result in an increase in healthcare costs and delays in access to needed care.

(J) The legislature intends with this Act to ensure that patients may obtain health care free from discrimination based on, or unwarranted inquiry into, constitutionally-protected conduct involving firearms or ammunition and to ensure that health care practitioners may still obtain information about a patient’s firearm or ammunition related activity that is directly relevant to that patient’s own treatment.

Section 3. {Definitions}

(A) “Health care practitioner” has the same meaning as in [cite to state’s broadest definition of health care practitioner or like term].

(B) “Patient” means a person under the care of or who seeks professional services from a health care practitioner.

Section 4. {Prohibited Bases for Refusal to Treat}

Except as provided in section (5), a health care practitioner may not refuse to treat or to accept a referral for treatment of a patient based on:

(A) The lawful ownership, possession, handling, storage, maintenance, or other legal conduct involving firearms or ammunition by the patient or a member of the patient’s household; or

(B) The patient’s -- and if the patient is a minor, the patient’s parent’s or guardian’s -- refusal to disclose such information.

Section 5. {Requirements When Inquiring Into Firearm or Ammunition-Related Activity}

Except as provided in section (6), a health care practitioner who questions a patient -- and if the patient is a minor, who questions the patient’s parent or guardian -- about the ownership, possession, handling, storage, maintenance, or other conduct involving firearms or ammunition by the patient or a member of the patient’s household shall first do the following:

(A) Inform the patient, parent, or guardian that he or she will be asked about firearms and ammunition;

(B) Inform the patient, parent, or guardian about the purpose of the question;

(C) Inform the patient, parent, or guardian that he or she is not required to answer the question; and

(D) Inform the patient, parent, or guardian that failure to answer the question will not result in refusal or termination of the patient’s treatment with the health care practitioner.

Section 6. {Exceptions}

The requirements of sections (4) and (5) shall not apply if:

(A) The health care practitioner reasonably believes the patient is in immediate possession or control of a firearm or ammunition and poses an imminent threat to the patient’s self or another with such firearm or ammunition;

(B) The patient has brought a firearm or ammunition into an area where such firearm or ammunition is prohibited;

(C) The patient -- and if the patient is a minor, the patient’s parent or guardian -- volunteers information about a firearm or ammunition without being asked about it; or

(D) The health care practitioner reasonably and in good faith believes that disclosure of the requested information is necessary to diagnose or treat a specific illness or injury, but this exception shall not apply to a generalized belief that firearms are harmful to health or safety.

Section 7. {Penalties}

(A) The Agency for Health Care Administration may impose an administrative fine upon a health care practitioner who violates any provision of sections (4) or (5). The fine shall not exceed $5,000 for nonwillful violations nor $10,000 for intentional and willful violations. Each intentional and willful violation constitutes a separate violation and is subject to a separate fine.

(B) An administrative fine may be imposed by the [name appropriate regulatory board], or the department of health if no such board exists, when a health care practitioner violates any provision of sections (4) or (5). The fine shall not exceed $1,000 for nonwillful violations nor $5,000 for willful violations. Each intentional and willful violation constitutes a separate violation and is subject to a separate fine.

(C) A violation of any provision of sections (4) or (4) shall also subject the health care practitioner to appropriate discipline under [cite code sections allowing for professional discipline of health care practitioners].

Section 8. {Impermissible Grounds for Discrimination in Insurance Contracts}

(A) A premium rate may not be increased, insurance coverage may not be denied or canceled, and a discount, rebate, or reward that would otherwise be available may not be reduced or withheld under any insurance plan issued pursuant to [cite title or chapter regulating insurance] on the basis of, or on reliance upon, the lawful ownership, possession, use, or storage of a firearm or ammunition by the applicant, the insured, or a member of the applicant’s or insured’s household.

(B) Violation of this section is grounds for disapproval, or withdrawal of an existing approval, of a filing under [cite state statute that requires insurance forms and rating materials to be submitted to state for approval], and a nonconforming policy shall additionally be subject to the provisions of [cite state statute that pertains to validity of non-compliant insurance contracts]. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to limit or impair any other remedies available to the applicant or insured in law or in equity.

(C) Nothing in this section shall prevent an insurer from considering the fair market value of firearms or ammunition in the setting of premiums for scheduled personal property coverage or other property coverage for the loss, theft, damage, or destruction of a firearm or ammunition.

Section 9. {Severability Clause}

Section 10. {Repealer Clause}

Section 11. {Effective Date}