BILL REQ. #:  H-0260.2 

Read first time 01/24/2003.   Referred to Committee on Criminal Justice & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to health care services for offenders sentenced to death; adding a new section to chapter 72.10 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds a fundamental difference between providing certain health care services to inmates who are under a sentence of death after initial appellate review and providing such services to inmates who have been sentenced to life or to a lesser term or whose death sentence is under initial appellate review. The people of Washington state should not be required to provide or pay for health care services not otherwise constitutionally required for inmates who have had final disposition of at least one appeal and are under a sentence of death or whose death sentence is under additional appellate review.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 72.10 RCW to read as follows:
     (l) For an inmate who has had final disposition of at least one appeal and is under a sentence of death or whose death sentence is under additional appellate review, the department may provide basic, nonemergency health care services, including administration of medication necessary for pain relief or to prevent infection or contagion, but shall not use any public funds to provide a life-saving health care procedure. The department may, however, provide procedures such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the Heimlich maneuver, and other similar, basic emergency life-saving procedures.
     (2) For purposes of this section, the term "life-saving health care procedure" means a medical or surgical treatment or intervention to sustain, restore, or replace a bodily function, where failure to perform the treatment or intervention may result in the inmate's death. This term includes, but is not limited to, open-heart surgery, organ transplants, bone marrow transplants, and chemotherapy.
     (3) The inmate shall be responsible for the costs of any health care services obtained or provided unless the provision of the health care service is otherwise required by law as determined to be binding upon the state of Washington by a court of competent jurisdiction. Under the authority granted under RCW 72.01.050(2), the secretary shall direct the superintendent to collect the amount due directly from the offender's institution account. If the balance of the account is insufficient to meet the costs of the health care services provided, the department may obtain a judgment and may obtain a lien on any real property owned by the offender. The inmate shall be provided due process to defend against the lien before the department may enforce the judgment against any real property owned by the inmate.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.