CSHB 71(HSS): "An Act relating to a registry for advance health care directives."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 71(HSS) 01 "An Act relating to a registry for advance health care directives." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 13.52.080 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 04 (d) A health care facility or hospital is not subject to civil or criminal liability 05 for 06 (1) acting in reliance on an advance health care directive obtained from 07 the directive registry established under AS 13.52.310; or 08 (2) not checking the directive registry established under AS 13.52.310 09 to determine if a patient of the health care facility has filed an advance health care 10 directive in the registry. 11 * Sec. 2. AS 13.52 is amended by adding a new section to read: 12 Sec. 13.52.310. Advance health care directive registry. (a) The department 13 shall establish and maintain a registry for advance health care directives. The registry 14 must consist of 15 (1) a list of the names of individuals who have made written directives
01 for themselves and who have filed them with the department under (b) of this section; 02 and 03 (2) scanned copies of the directives identified in (1) of this subsection. 04 (b) An individual who has made a written directive for the individual may file 05 the directive with the department for placement in the registry. 06 (c) Except as provided in this subsection and by (d) of this section, the registry 07 is confidential, and the department may not use the information in the registry for 08 another purpose. The department may release by mail or fax 09 (1) the name of an individual who filed a directive with the department 10 under (b) of this section and a copy of a directive in the registry to 11 (A) the individual who made the directive; 12 (B) the agent, guardian, or surrogate of the individual who 13 made the directive; or 14 (C) a health care facility in this state or hospital in this state if 15 the individual who made the directive is a patient of the health care facility or 16 hospital; 17 (2) a copy of a directive in the registry to a hospital in another state if 18 requested by the 19 (A) individual who made the directive; or 20 (B) agent, guardian, or surrogate of the individual who made 21 the directive. 22 (d) The department shall make the registry accessible for viewing on the 23 Internet 24 hours a day to a hospital in this state to determine if an individual who is a 24 patient at the health care facility has a directive or to obtain a copy of a directive for an 25 individual who is a patient at the health care facility. 26 (e) The department is not required to review a directive for validity or 27 compliance with this chapter or another law before placing the directive in the 28 registry. 29 (f) The department shall remove a directive from the registry if the individual 30 requests in writing that the directive be removed. 31 (g) Not filing a directive with the department for placement in the registry
01 does not affect the validity of the directive. Failure to notify the department that a 02 directive in the registry has been revoked does not affect the validity of the revocation. 03 (h) The department may charge a fee to file or provide a copy of a directive 04 filed in the registry under this section, except that the department may not charge a fee 05 for removing a directive from the registry or for answering an inquiry by a health care 06 facility or hospital in this state regarding whether an individual has a directive in the 07 registry. The fee may not exceed the department's administrative costs of fulfilling the 08 request. 09 (i) To protect the security of the directives and names on the registry, the 10 department shall establish by regulation identification procedures and requirements for 11 an individual, agent, surrogate, guardian, hospital, or health care facility to access the 12 registry. 13 (j) The department shall establish by regulation criteria and procedures for the 14 collection, storage, access, distribution, removal and disposal of directives from the 15 registry and a schedule for removing directives from the registry. 16 (k) The department and its employees are not liable for civil damages as a 17 result of an act or omission in the establishment or maintenance of the registry or other 18 implementation of this section. 19 (l) In this section, 20 (1) "directive" means a written advance health care directive; 21 (2) "registry" means the registry established under this section.