H-4397              _______________________________________________

                                          SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 1891

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By House Committee on Social & Health Services (originally sponsored by Representatives Lux, Leonard, Jacobsen and O'Brien)

Read first time 2/7/86 and passed to Committee on Rules.

AN ACT Relating to the medical disciplinary board; and adding a new section to chapter 18.72 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 18.72 RCW to read as follows:

          The term "unprofessional conduct" as used in this chapter means the failure to enroll at the earliest possible time, or the failure to continue, as a participating physician under the supplementary medical insurance benefits for the aged and disabled part of the federal medicare program, Part B of Title XVIII of the federal social security act, by agreeing to accept the medicare-determined reasonable charge requested from a medicare patient who is at or below two hundred percent of the poverty level as determined by the department of social and health services as payment in full, except for any medicare-authorized deductibles and coinsurance amounts, which the physician may collect from a medicare patient.

          However, it shall not be considered "unprofessional conduct" for a nonenrolled physician to charge any patient in accordance with a fee schedule which has been agreed to orally and in writing, as long as the fee schedule includes a clearly visible disclosure statement in large type setting out the rights and duties contained in this section.

          This section shall not apply to a physician who certifies in writing to the board that he or she does not and will not knowingly treat patients covered under the supplementary medical insurance benefits for the aged and disabled part of the federal medicare program except in emergency situations or when such treatment would otherwise be required by the ethical standards of the profession.