Assessment Technology, Inc Social Studies Content Writer General CORT WAREHOUSE/DRIVER Health Care Rio Salado College PA's/Online Instructors General CORT Warehouse Supervisor Construction Komatsu Equipment Co Mechanic Tucson RegionLegislative briefingTucson, Arizona | Published: 04.29.2006
Medical records
Bill safeguards patients' access to medical records
Doctors and other health professionals are going to have to adopt procedures for what to do with their patients' records when they sell their practice, retire or die.
A bill signed Friday by Gov. Janet Napolitano says people licensed by the state will have to prepare written protocols for secure transfer, storage and access to records.
That includes telling patients where the records will be stored and how they can be accessed before a practice is terminated. It also requires a disclosure to patients about when the records may legally be thrown away.
The law, which takes effect this summer, requires the professional to respond in a timely manner to patients' requests for copies of or access to their records. To assure compliance, the professionals would have to certify in writing that they have complied when they seek to renew their licenses.
Food allergies
Cost of children's food allergy transferred to insurers
Families who have children with severe food allergies will be able to get some financial relief from insurance companies under the terms of legislation signed Friday by Gov. Janet Napolitano.
The law is designed to help families in which a child has eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorder, essentially a condition where the body reacts against most foods. There is no cure but symptoms can be treated with special diets.
Rep. Steve Huffman, R-Tucson, said most parents cannot afford the $1,200 to $1,800 a month necessary. This legislation requires insurers to cover 75 percent of the cost of special foods for these children, up to $20,000 a year.
Border security
Resolution goes to Congress for Coast Guard border unit
Gov. Janet Napolitano signed a message to Congress asking for establishment of a Coast Guard Reserve auxiliary for Arizona to help protect the state's international border.
Rep. Russell Jones, R-Yuma said this is preferable to having National Guard troops on the border as a military presence. By contrast, he said, the Coast Guard is technically not a military unit but part of the Department of Homeland Security, with the mission of both stopping illegal entry of people and drugs into this country as well as rescuing people.
Jones said the Coast Guard already has a presence in Arizona, patrolling the lakes along the Colorado River.
The resolution has no legal effect.
Capitol Media Services
|
|