Iowa-2013-SF2075-Introduced

S.F. 2075 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 239.1 Title. 1 This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Health 2 Care Consent Act” . 3 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 239.2 Authorization for consent to 4 health care treatment and information. 5 1. a. A parent, guardian, or custodian of a minor may 6 authorize an adult person to exercise certain concurrent 7 parental rights and responsibilities in regard to the minor 8 as described in subsection 4. If conflicting decisions are 9 made under such concurrent rights and responsibilities, the 10 decision of the parent, guardian, or custodian shall supersede 11 the decision of the person upon whom the parental rights and 12 responsibilities were conferred. 13 b. “Minor” , for purposes of this chapter, means a person 14 under eighteen years of age who has not been and is not 15 married. 16 2. The parent, guardian, or custodian of a minor may 17 only confer those parental rights and responsibilities that 18 the parent, guardian, or custodian lawfully possesses and 19 such authorization shall not divest the parent, guardian, 20 or custodian of the minor of the parental rights and 21 responsibilities. 22 3. The parent, guardian, or custodian of a minor shall 23 not authorize an adult person to exercise parental rights and 24 responsibilities under this section to circumvent any state or 25 federal law, or to reconfer rights to a person from whom those 26 rights have been removed by a court of law. 27 4. The parental rights and responsibilities which may be 28 conferred to an adult person pursuant to this section are as 29 follows: 30 a. The power to consent to medical, surgical, dental, 31 developmental, mental health, or other examination or treatment 32 to be rendered to the minor under the supervision of or upon 33 the advice of a physician, nurse, school nurse, dentist, mental 34 health professional, or other health care professional licensed 35 -1- LSB 5332XS (5) 85 ad/nh 1/ 6

S.F. 2075 to practice in this state. 1 b. The power to exercise any existing parental rights to 2 obtain records or information with regard to the health care 3 services described in paragraph “a” or insurance coverage 4 related to such services. 5 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 239.3 Authorization requirements. 6 1. A health care consent authorization under section 239.2 7 shall be in writing and shall include all of the following: 8 a. The name of the person upon whom the parental rights and 9 responsibilities are conferred. 10 b. The name and date of birth of each minor with respect to 11 whom the parental rights and responsibilities are conferred. 12 c. A statement by the person conferring the parental rights 13 and responsibilities that there are no court orders presently 14 in effect that would prohibit the person from conferring the 15 parental rights and responsibilities. 16 d. A description of the specific parental rights and 17 responsibilities that are being conferred pursuant to section 18 239.2, subsection 4. 19 2. A health care consent authorization under section 239.2 20 shall be signed by the parent, guardian, or custodian in the 21 presence of and along with the contemporaneous signatures of 22 two witnesses who are at least eighteen years of age. The 23 adult person upon whom the parental rights and responsibilities 24 are being conferred may not serve as one of the witnesses. The 25 adult person upon whom the parental rights and responsibilities 26 are being conferred shall also sign the authorization. 27 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 239.4 Form of health care consent 28 authorization. 29 A health care consent authorization executed pursuant to 30 this chapter may, but need not, be in the following form: 31 HEALTH CARE CONSENT AUTHORIZATION 32 I (name of parent, guardian, or custodian of minor) am the 33 (parent, guardian, or custodian) of the child listed below and 34 there are no court orders now in effect that would prohibit 35 -2- LSB 5332XS (5) 85 ad/nh 2/ 6

S.F. 2075 me from conferring the power to consent described in this 1 authorization upon another person. 2 I (name of parent, guardian, or custodian) do confer upon 3 (name of adult person), residing at (adult person’s address), 4 the power to consent to necessary examination and treatment 5 as described in this authorization for the following child: 6 (name of child), residing at (child’s address), born on 7 (child’s birthdate), and on the child’s behalf do state that 8 the power to consent which I confer shall not be affected by my 9 subsequent disability or incapacity. 10 The parental rights and responsibilities which I confer 11 are specifically limited to health care decision making as 12 described in this authorization and may be exercised only by 13 the person named above. The person named above may consent 14 to the child’s (cross out all that do not apply): medical, 15 dental, surgical, developmental, and/or mental health 16 examination or treatment and may have access to any and all 17 records, including but not limited to insurance records, 18 regarding any such services. 19 I confer the power to consent freely and knowingly in order to 20 provide for the child and not as a result of pressure, threats, 21 or payments by any person or agency. This document shall 22 remain in effect until it is revoked by notifying the child’s 23 health care and insurance providers and the person named above, 24 in writing, that I wish to revoke it. 25 ................... 26 Signature of parent, guardian, or custodian 27 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 239.5 Use by health care provider —— 28 liability. 29 1. An authorization described in section 239.2, which is 30 consistent with the requirements of section 239.3, shall be 31 honored by any physician, nurse, school nurse, dentist, mental 32 health professional, other health care professional, hospital, 33 health care facility, mental health facility, or insurance 34 provider. 35 -3- LSB 5332XS (5) 85 ad/nh 3/ 6

S.F. 2075 2. A health care provider or an insurance provider who 1 acts in good faith on the authorization granted through a 2 health care consent authorization that is consistent with the 3 requirements of this chapter has no obligation to make any 4 further inquiry or investigation and is not subject to criminal 5 prosecution, civil liability, or professional disciplinary 6 action for treating a minor without legal consent if the person 7 relied in good faith on the health care consent authorization. 8 Nothing in this chapter shall relieve a person from liability 9 arising under another provision of the law. 10 3. An adult person upon whom the parental rights and 11 responsibilities are conferred pursuant to a health care 12 consent authorization under this chapter is not subject to 13 criminal prosecution or civil liability for any health care 14 decision made in good faith pursuant to the health care consent 15 authorization. 16 4. It shall be presumed that an adult person upon whom the 17 parental rights and responsibilities are conferred pursuant to 18 a health care consent authorization, and a health care provider 19 or insurance provider acting pursuant to the direction of 20 that adult person, are acting in good faith absent clear and 21 convincing evidence to the contrary. 22 5. For purposes of this section, acting in “good faith” 23 means acting consistent with the desires of the parent, 24 guardian, or custodian as expressed in the health care consent 25 authorization or otherwise made known to the adult person upon 26 whom the parental rights and responsibilities are conferred, or 27 where those desires are unknown, acting in the best interests 28 of the child, taking into account the child’s overall medical 29 condition and prognosis. 30 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 239.6 Revocation. 31 1. Parental rights and responsibilities conferred pursuant 32 to a health care consent authorization under this chapter 33 are revocable at will and such revocation is effective upon 34 notifying all parties of interest in writing. 35 -4- LSB 5332XS (5) 85 ad/nh 4/ 6

S.F. 2075 2. Death of a person who has previously executed a health 1 care consent authorization constitutes revocation of the 2 authorization, except that action taken in good faith reliance 3 upon the authorization without actual knowledge of the death 4 shall be permitted. 5 3. Unless otherwise indicated in the health care consent 6 authorization, disability or incapacity of the person executing 7 the authorization does not constitute revocation of the 8 authorization. 9 Sec. 7. NEW SECTION . 239.7 Insurance coverage. 10 An insurer shall have the sole power to determine whether to 11 add a child to the insurance coverage of a person who has been 12 authorized to consent to treatment of that child under this 13 chapter. No provision of this chapter shall be construed to 14 compel an insurer to provide such coverage. 15 EXPLANATION 16 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 17 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 18 This bill establishes a health care consent authorization, 19 which allows a parent, guardian, or custodian of a minor to 20 authorize an adult person to exercise certain concurrent 21 parental rights and responsibilities. Those parental rights 22 and responsibilities are the power to consent to medical, 23 surgical, dental, developmental, mental health, or other 24 treatment or examination rendered to a minor in the state 25 and the power to exercise parental rights to obtain records 26 and information with regard to the health care services and 27 insurance. The bill specifies that a parent, guardian, or 28 custodian may only confer parental rights and responsibilities 29 that the parent, guardian, or custodian lawfully possesses. 30 The bill requires a health care consent authorization to 31 be in writing and to include the name of the person upon whom 32 the parental rights and responsibilities are conferred, the 33 name and date of birth of the minor, a statement conferring 34 the rights, a statement that there are no court orders that 35 -5- LSB 5332XS (5) 85 ad/nh 5/ 6

S.F. 2075 prohibit the parent, guardian, or custodian from conferring the 1 parental rights and responsibilities, and a description of the 2 rights and responsibilities being conferred. The bill requires 3 the written authorization to be signed by the parent, guardian, 4 or custodian, the person upon whom the parental rights and 5 responsibilities are being conferred, and two witnesses. The 6 bill also provides an example of the form of the health care 7 consent authorization. 8 The bill requires physicians, nurses, school nurses, mental 9 health professionals, dentists, health care professionals, 10 hospitals, health care facilities, mental health facilities, 11 and insurance providers to honor the health care consent 12 authorization. The bill also provides that the health care 13 providers and insurance providers are not liable when acting in 14 good faith, as defined in the bill, on the health care consent 15 authorization. The bill also states that the adult person upon 16 whom the parental rights and responsibilities are conferred is 17 not liable when acting in good faith, as that term is defined 18 in the bill. 19 The bill provides that a parent, guardian, or custodian may 20 revoke the health care consent authorization upon providing 21 a written notification to all interested parties. The death 22 of the parent, guardian, or custodian effectuates a revocation 23 of the health care consent authorization, but a disability 24 or incapacity of the parent, guardian, or custodian is not a 25 revocation of the health care consent authorization. 26 The bill provides that an insurer has the sole power to 27 determine whether to add a child to the insurance coverage of a 28 person authorized to consent to that child’s health care, but 29 the insurer is not obligated to do so. 30 -6- LSB 5332XS (5) 85 ad/nh 6/ 6