Minnesota Session Laws - 1999, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 121-H.F.No. 1106 
                  An act relating to health; limiting use of health 
                  information secured as part of HIV vaccine research 
                  for insurance underwriting; amending Minnesota 
                  Statutes 1998, section 72A.20, by adding a subdivision.
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 72A.20, is 
        amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
           Subd. 29a.  [HIV TESTS; VACCINE RESEARCH.] (a) No insurer 
        regulated under chapter 61A or 62B, or providing health, 
        medical, hospitalization, or accident and sickness insurance 
        regulated under chapter 62A, or nonprofit health services 
        corporation regulated under chapter 62C, health maintenance 
        organization regulated under chapter 62D, or fraternal benefit 
        society regulated under chapter 64B, may make an underwriting 
        decision, cancel, fail to renew, or take any other action with 
        respect to a policy, plan, certificate, or contract based solely 
        on the fact of a person's participation in a human 
        immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine clinical trial. 
           (b) If a test to determine the presence of the HIV antibody 
        is performed at the insurer's direction, as part of the 
        insurer's normal underwriting requirements or on any other 
        basis, and an applicant or covered person is a participant or 
        former participant in a vaccine clinical trial and tests 
        positive for the HIV antibody in the insurer-directed test, the 
        person shall disclose the person's status as a participant or 
        former participant in a vaccine clinical trial and provide the 
        insurance company with certification from the trial sponsor of 
        the person's participation or former participation in the 
        vaccine trial.  Upon that notification, an insurer shall stay 
        any adverse decision or refrain from making an underwriting 
        decision to cancel, fail to renew, or take any other action 
        based solely on the positive test result until the insurer 
        obtains a confidential certificate from the sponsor of the trial 
        verifying the person's HIV status.  If the confidential 
        certificate indicates that the person's HIV antibodies are a 
        result of exposure to the vaccine, that the person does not have 
        the HIV virus, and that the person did not test positive for the 
        HIV virus in any test administered by the trial sponsor prior to 
        entering the vaccine clinical trial, the insurer shall ignore 
        the presence of the HIV antibody in the insurer-directed test. 
           (c) This subdivision does not affect any tests to determine 
        the presence of the HIV antibody, except as provided under 
        paragraph (b). 
           (d) This subdivision does not apply to persons who are 
        confirmed as having the HIV virus. 
           (e) For purposes of this subdivision, "vaccine clinical 
        trial" means a clinical trial conducted by a sponsor under an 
        investigational new drug application as provided by Code of 
        Federal Regulations, title 21, section 312.  "Sponsor" means the 
        hospital, clinic, or health care professional that is conducting 
        the vaccine clinical trial. 
           Presented to the governor April 30, 1999 
           Signed by the governor May 4, 1999, 11:21 a.m.