BILL REQ. #:  H-2889.1 

Read first time 01/20/14.   Referred to Committee on Health Care & Wellness.

     AN ACT Relating to infectious disease testing for good samaritans; and amending RCW 70.05.180.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 70.05.180 and 1999 c 391 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     A person rendering emergency care or transportation, commonly known as a "Good Samaritan," as described in RCW 4.24.300 and 4.24.310, may request and receive appropriate infectious disease testing free of charge from the local health department of the county of her or his residence, if((: (1))) while rendering emergency care she or he came into contact with bodily fluids((; and (2) she or he does not have health insurance that covers the testing)). If consented to by the source patient, testing of the source patient may be performed in order to guide postexposure prophylaxis treatment of the good samaritan. Source patient testing may be requested and received free of charge from the local health department of the county of his or her residence. Nothing in this section requires a local health department to provide health care services beyond testing. The department shall adopt rules implementing this section.
     The information obtained from infectious disease testing is subject to statutory confidentiality provisions, including those of chapters 70.24 and 70.05 RCW.