The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Moore, Richard (SEN)

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
                Court assembled:

                The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the passage of the accompanying bill:

An Act Relative to Volunteer Physicians

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PETITION OF:

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. S01248 OF .]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand and Nine

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An Act Relative to Volunteer Physicians .

                Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

            SECTION 1.   Chapter 112 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 2C, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition,  the following section:-

Section 2D.  (a)  The board may grant or renew a certificate of registration to a physician qualified for registration or renewal of the same under this chapter in order for the physician to participate in the free care program operated by a non-profit organization. The scope of practice of a physician whose certificate of registration is granted or renewed pursuant to this section may be restricted as the board may provide by regulation.

(b)  In order to qualify for a license for volunteer practice, an applicant shall meet the requirements for a regular license under this chapter, in addition to the requirements set forth below.    An applicant shall submit to the board a completed application on forms prescribed by the board; any additional information that the board requests; and a fee established for a volunteer license under section 3B of chapter 7.  An applicant shall agree to the conditions on practice promulgated by the board.

(b)  The board’s application form for a license for volunteer practice shall include a request for the following information:

(1) a written statement from the applicant outlining the scope and duration of services to be provided by the applicant;

(2)  a written statement from the director of the applicant’s proposed work site outlining the scope and duration of the applicant’s responsibilities; and

(3)  evidence satisfactory to the board that, in the proposed work site,  the volunteer physician will be serving primarily a low-income community, or a community with limited access to medical care.

(d)  If an applicant has met all of the requirements of this section to the satisfaction of the board, the applicant shall be granted a license for volunteer practice and entitled to a certificate of registration signed by the chairman and the secretary of the board.  A licensee engaged in volunteer practice may practice medicine only at a work site approved in conjunction with his license application; shall be subject to the same conditions and responsibilities as a regular licensee; and may not accept any compensation for the practice of medicine.

SECTION 2.  The board of registration in medicine shall promulgate regulations to carry out section 1 not later than 3 months following the effective date of this act.

SECTION 3. The commissioner of public health, or his designee, shall study the impact of the Federal Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 on health care volunteers in the commonwealth. The commissioner shall review ways in which the commonwealth may act to provide legal counsel and defense to volunteers who may be eligible for the protections afforded in the Volunteer Protection Act.  The commissioner shall report the results of the review by filing the same with  the joint committee on health care, together with recommendation for legislation, if any, by December 31, 2010.