BILL REQ. #: S-0359.2
| State of Washington | 58th Legislature | 2003 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/13/2003. Referred to Committee on Health & Long-Term Care.
AN ACT Relating to hepatitis C; amending RCW 49.60.172 and 49.60.174; and adding a new section to chapter 70.54 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 A new section is added to chapter 70.54 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) The secretary of health shall contract, or enter into other
agreements, with the University of Washington medical center to design
and implement all parts of a state plan for the prevention and
management of hepatitis C, by December 31, 2003. In developing the
plan, the parties shall consider the recommendations of:
(a) The public;
(b) Patient groups and organizations;
(c) The department of social and health services, the department of
corrections, and the department of labor and industries;
(d) Local health departments;
(e) Public health and clinical laboratories;
(f) Providers of services to persons with hepatitis C;
(g) Research scientists; and
(h) The centers for disease control and prevention, or other
advisory body that addresses issues related to hepatitis C.
(2) The plan must include:
(a) An educational program, including public school education, to
heighten awareness and enhance knowledge and understanding of hepatitis
C;
(b) A hepatitis C education curriculum for all providers licensed
under chapters 18.79, 18.225, and 18.205 RCW;
(c) A training course for persons providing hepatitis C counseling,
which shall include information relating to the special needs of
persons with positive hepatitis C test results, including the
importance of early intervention and treatment and recognition of
psychosocial needs;
(d) Provide training to public health clinic staff regarding the
treatment, detection, and methods of transmission of hepatitis C;
(e) Voluntary hepatitis C testing programs to be performed at
facilities providing voluntary HIV testing under chapter 70.24 RCW,
which shall make anonymous and confidential hepatitis C testing,
pretest and posttest counseling available;
(f) Strategies for the prevention and management of hepatitis C in
injection drug users and persons incarcerated in Washington
correctional institutions;
(g) Guidelines for health care professionals to use to prevent
further transmission of the hepatitis C virus and to prevent the onset
of chronic liver disease caused by hepatitis C by detecting and
managing chronic hepatitis C infection; and
(h) A comprehensive model, developed by the University of
Washington medical center, for an evidence-based process for the
prevention and management of hepatitis C and applicable to other
diseases.
(3) The department of health and the University of Washington may
seek and accept contributions from agencies of the federal government,
private sources, and any other available funds, and may expend the
funds to carry out the purposes of this section.
(4) The secretary of health shall adopt rules necessary to
implement this section.
(5) The department of health shall submit the completed state plan
to the legislature before implementation and by December 31, 2003.
After the initial state plan is submitted, the department shall update
the state plan biennially and shall submit the updated state plan to
the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of
representatives by October 1st of each even-numbered year.
(6) The state plan described in subsection (2) of this section
shall be implemented within available appropriations. If available
appropriations are inadequate to fund the entire plan, then the plan
shall be implemented in stages, commencing with the educational program
in subsection (2)(a) of this section and proceeding in the order listed
in subsection (2) of this section.
Sec. 2 RCW 49.60.172 and 1988 c 206 s 903 are each amended to
read as follows:
(1) No person may require an individual to take an HIV test, as
defined in chapter 70.24 RCW, or hepatitis C test, as a condition of
hiring, promotion, or continued employment unless the absence of HIV or
hepatitis C infection is a bona fide occupational qualification for the
job in question.
(2) No person may discharge or fail or refuse to hire any
individual, or segregate or classify any individual in any way which
would deprive or tend to deprive that individual of employment
opportunities or adversely affect his or her status as an employee, or
otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to
compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment on the
basis of the results of an HIV test or hepatitis C test unless the
absence of HIV or hepatitis C infection is a bona fide occupational
qualification of the job in question.
(3) The absence of HIV or hepatitis C infection as a bona fide
occupational qualification exists when performance of a particular job
can be shown to present a significant risk, as defined by the board of
health by rule, of transmitting HIV or hepatitis C infection to other
persons, and there exists no means of eliminating the risk by
restructuring the job.
(4) For the purpose of this chapter, any person who is actually
infected with HIV or hepatitis C, but is not disabled as a result of
the infection, shall not be eligible for any benefits under the
affirmative action provisions of chapter 49.74 RCW solely on the basis
of such infection.
(5) Employers are immune from civil action for damages arising out
of transmission of HIV or hepatitis C to employees or to members of the
public unless such transmission occurs as a result of the employer's
gross negligence.
Sec. 3 RCW 49.60.174 and 1997 c 271 s 6 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) For the purposes of determining whether an unfair practice
under this chapter has occurred, claims of discrimination based on
actual or perceived HIV or hepatitis C infection shall be evaluated in
the same manner as other claims of discrimination based on sensory,
mental, or physical disability; or the use of a trained dog guide or
service animal by a disabled person.
(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to transactions
with insurance entities, health service contractors, or health
maintenance organizations subject to RCW 49.60.030(1)(e) or 49.60.178
to prohibit fair discrimination on the basis of actual HIV or actual
hepatitis C infection status when bona fide statistical differences in
risk or exposure have been substantiated.
(3) For the purposes of this chapter((,)):
(a) "HIV" means the human immunodeficiency virus, and includes all
HIV and HIV-related viruses which damage the cellular branch of the
human immune system and leave the infected person immunodeficient; and
(b) "Hepatitis C" means the hepatitis C virus of any genotype.