SF 1830

Introduction - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002)

Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00 a.m.

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to workers' compensation; exempting medical 
  1.3             providers from disclosing certain data; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 176.138. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 176.138, is 
  1.7   amended to read: 
  1.8      176.138 [MEDICAL DATA; ACCESS.] 
  1.9      (a) Notwithstanding any other state laws related to the 
  1.10  privacy of medical data or any private agreements to the 
  1.11  contrary, the release in writing, by telephone discussion, or 
  1.12  otherwise of medical data related to a current claim for 
  1.13  compensation under this chapter to the employee, employer, or 
  1.14  insurer who are parties to the claim, or to the department of 
  1.15  labor and industry, shall not require prior approval of any 
  1.16  party to the claim.  This section does not preclude the release 
  1.17  of medical data under section 175.10 or 176.231, subdivision 9.  
  1.18  Requests for pertinent data shall be made, and the date of 
  1.19  discussions with medical providers about medical data shall be 
  1.20  confirmed, in writing to the person or organization that 
  1.21  collected or currently possesses the data.  Written medical data 
  1.22  that exists at the time the request is made shall be provided by 
  1.23  the collector or possessor within seven working days of 
  1.24  receiving the request.  Nonwritten medical data may be provided, 
  1.25  but is not required to be provided, by the collector or 
  2.1   possessor.  In all cases of a request for the data or discussion 
  2.2   with a medical provider about the data, except when it is the 
  2.3   employee who is making the request, the employee shall be sent 
  2.4   written notification of the request by the party requesting the 
  2.5   data at the same time the request is made or a written 
  2.6   confirmation of the discussion.  This data shall be treated as 
  2.7   private data by the party who requests or receives the data and 
  2.8   the party receiving the data shall provide the employee or the 
  2.9   employee's attorney with a copy of all data requested by the 
  2.10  requester.  
  2.11     (b) No railroad or other employer or their agent who is 
  2.12  required to pay compensation under the Federal Employers' 
  2.13  Liability Act may seek access to medical data subject to this 
  2.14  section.  Medical providers and any person or organization 
  2.15  maintaining medical data must make a reasonable effort to 
  2.16  determine whether the employer or agent of the employer is a 
  2.17  railroad or other employer under the Federal Employers' 
  2.18  Liability Act and if so, must deny access to the medical data to 
  2.19  that employer or agent.  Any medical provider or person or 
  2.20  organization maintaining personal medical data that incorrectly 
  2.21  discloses data prohibited by this paragraph is subject to the 
  2.22  penalties described under paragraph (e). 
  2.23     (c) Medical data which is not directly related to a current 
  2.24  injury or disability shall not be released without prior 
  2.25  authorization of the employee. 
  2.26     (c) (d) The commissioner may impose a penalty of up to $600 
  2.27  payable to the assigned risk safety account against a party who 
  2.28  does not timely release data as required in this section.  A 
  2.29  party who does not treat this data as private pursuant to this 
  2.30  section is guilty of a misdemeanor.  This paragraph applies only 
  2.31  to written medical data which exists at the time the request is 
  2.32  made.  
  2.33     (d) (e) Workers' compensation insurers and self-insured 
  2.34  employers may, for the sole purpose of identifying duplicate 
  2.35  billings submitted to more than one insurer, disclose to health 
  2.36  insurers, including all insurers writing insurance described in 
  3.1   section 60A.06, subdivision 1, clause (5)(a), nonprofit health 
  3.2   service plan corporations subject to chapter 62C, health 
  3.3   maintenance organizations subject to chapter 62D, and joint 
  3.4   self-insurance employee health plans subject to chapter 62H, 
  3.5   computerized information about dates, coded items, and charges 
  3.6   for medical treatment of employees and other medical billing 
  3.7   information submitted to them by an employee, employer, health 
  3.8   care provider, or other insurer in connection with a current 
  3.9   claim for compensation under this chapter, without prior 
  3.10  approval of any party to the claim.  The data may not be used by 
  3.11  the health insurer for any other purpose whatsoever and must be 
  3.12  destroyed after verification that there has been no duplicative 
  3.13  billing.  Any person who is the subject of the data which is 
  3.14  used in a manner not allowed by this paragraph has a cause of 
  3.15  action for actual damages and punitive damages for a minimum of 
  3.16  $5,000. 
  3.17     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.18     Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment.