SHB 2404 -
By Senator Jacobsen
On page 6, after line 33 of the amendment, insert the following:
"NEW SECTION. Sec. 7 (1) The execution of a retainer agreement
by a provider shall not relieve the provider of its obligations to any
retainer subscriber for the provision of primary care services, nor of
its responsibility for compliance with statutes or regulations. All
individual retainer agreements shall be in writing and available for
review upon request by the commissioner.
(2) Each retainer medicine agreement shall contain the following
provisions or variations approved by the commissioner:
(a) "{Name of provider} hereby agrees that in no event including,
but not limited to, {provider's} insolvency, or breach of this contract
shall {name of provider} bill, charge, collect a deposit from, seek
compensation, remuneration, or reimbursement from, or have any recourse
against a retainer subscriber or person acting on their behalf for
primary care services provided pursuant to this retainer agreement
other than the retainer fee as authorized by state law."
(b) "{Name of provider} agrees, in the event of its insolvency, to
continue to provide the services promised in this retainer agreement to
retainer subscribers for the duration of the period for which retainer
fees were paid to {name of provider}."
(c) "{Name of provider} further agrees: (i) That the provisions of
(a) and (b) of this subsection shall survive termination of this
retainer agreement regardless of the cause giving rise to termination
and shall be construed to be for the benefit of retainer subscriber;
and (ii) that this provision supersedes any oral or written contrary
agreement now existing or hereafter entered into between {name of
provider} and retainer subscriber or persons acting on their behalf."
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no provider subject
to the jurisdiction of the state of Washington may prohibit directly or
indirectly its retainer subscribers from freely contracting at any time
to obtain any health care services outside the retainer agreement on
any terms or conditions the retainer subscriber chooses.
(4) Every retainer agreement shall contain procedures for the fair
resolution of disputes arising out of the contract."
Renumber the remaining sections consecutively and correct any internal references accordingly.
EFFECT: Requires retainer medicine agreements to include hold harmless and other contracting provisions.