SB 391

Under current law, certain individuals may serve as volunteer health care

providers by providing services through a nonprofit agency or for a school board or

school governing body while receiving no income from the practice of his or her health

profession. Currently, a licensed physician, a licensed dentist, a licensed dental

hygienist, a registered nurse, a practical nurse, a nurse-midwife, an optometrist, a

physician assistant, a pharmacist, a chiropractor, a podiatrist, a physical therapist,

a certified dietician, a nurse practitioner, or an individual who performs functions

of a pharmacy technician may serve as a volunteer health care provider under the

program. To participate in the volunteer health care provider program, a health care

professional must submit a joint application with a nonprofit agency, school board,

or school governing body to the Department of Administration (DOA), which may

approve the application. A volunteer health care provider providing services

through a nonprofit agency must provide services, except for dental services, without

charge and is limited under current law to providing certain services. A volunteer

health care provider seeking to provide services for a school board or school

governing body must meet certain requirements and consult with any school nurse

and may only provide certain services to certain students without charge at the

school.

Current law makes a volunteer health care provider providing services under

the program an agent of the state for certain purposes including representation by

the attorney general in a civil action or other matter brought before a court or

administrative agency; mandatory filing of a notice of claim before bringing a civil

claim against the agent; and payment by the state of a judgment of damages and

costs against the agent when found to be acting within the scope of employment.

This bill allows an individual who holds a valid, unexpired license, certification,

or registration issued by another state or territory that authorizes or qualifies the

individual to perform acts that are substantially the same as those acts that an

individual who is currently allowed to volunteer in the program is licensed or

certified to perform and who performs acts that are within the scope of that license,

certification, or registration (out-of-state volunteer) to participate in the volunteer

health care provider program. An applicant who is licensed, certified, or registered

in a state outside of Wisconsin may only make a joint application with a nonprofit

agency, and thus, may not provide volunteer services under the program at a school.

The bill prohibits the DOA from disapproving an application based solely on the

nonprofit agency being organized under the laws of a state other than Wisconsin.

The bill also prohibits an out-of-state volunteer from providing services under the

program for more than 60 days in any 90 day period. Under the bill, however, an

out-of-state volunteer who has sufficient liability insurance coverage and who

submits a joint application with a nonprofit agency that has sufficient liability

coverage is not an agent of the state for liability purposes. Instead the bill provides