1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to health; requiring patients' consent to
1.3 	transmit medical records out of the country; proposing
1.4 	coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 144.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. [144.3345] PATIENT CONSENT TO TRANSMIT MEDICAL
1.7 	RECORDS INTERNATIONALLY.
1.8 		Subdivision 1.Definitions. For purposes of this section:
1.9 	(1) "health care business" means an individual or entity,
1.10 	whether established to make a profit or not, that collects or
1.11 	retains individually identifiable health information about
1.12 	individuals in relation to medical care; and 
1.13 	(2) "individually identifiable health information" has the
1.14 	meaning given in the federal Health Insurance Portability and
1.15 	Accountability Act of 1996, United States Code, title 42,
1.16 	section 1320d.
1.17 		Subd. 2.Disclosure and consent. (a) An individual or
1.18 	entity that has contracted or subcontracted with a health care
1.19 	business to receive individually identifiable health information
1.20 	shall disclose to the health care business if any of the
1.21 	information will be transferred to a site outside the United
1.22 	States.
1.23 	(b) No health care business, or individual or entity that
1.24 	has contracted or subcontracted with a health care business,
1.25 	shall transmit individually identifiable health information to a
2.1 	site outside the United States unless:
2.2 	(1) the health care business discloses to the individual at
2.3 	the time of enrollment and reenrollment, or in the case of a
2.4 	health facility, upon admission or as soon as practical after
2.5 	admission, that individually identifiable health information may
2.6 	be transmitted to a site outside the United States; and 
2.7 	(2) the health care business obtains a consent
2.8 	acknowledgment from the individual whose health information is
2.9 	identifiable that the individually identifiable health
2.10 	information may be transmitted to a site outside the United
2.11 	States.  The consent acknowledgment must be in the form
2.12 	specified under subdivision 3.
2.13 	(c) The consent under paragraph (b), clause (2), must be
2.14 	renewed annually.  The individual may revoke consent in writing
2.15 	to the health care business at any time.
2.16 	(d) The obligations imposed on a health care business by
2.17 	this section must be undertaken by the business itself and must
2.18 	not be delegated to a physician or surgeon employed by, or
2.19 	contracted with, the health care business.
2.20 	(e) Paragraph (b) does not apply if an individual initiates
2.21 	a request for health care services, diagnosis, or treatment
2.22 	outside the United States.
2.23 		Subd. 3.Form. A health care business shall utilize a
2.24 	form to obtain consent to transmit individually identifiable
2.25 	health information to a site outside the United States.  The
2.26 	form must:
2.27 	(1) be dated and signed by the individual whose health care
2.28 	information is identifiable; and 
2.29 	(2) clearly and conspicuously disclose:
2.30 	(i) that by signing, the individual is consenting to the
2.31 	transmission of the individual's individually identifiable
2.32 	health information to a site outside the United States;
2.33 	(ii) that the consent of the individual must be renewed on
2.34 	at least an annual basis;
2.35 	(iii) that the individual may revoke consent at any time;
2.36 	and 
3.1 	(iv) the procedure by which consent may be revoked.
3.2 		Subd. 4.Discrimination prohibited. A health care
3.3 	business shall not discriminate against an individual or deny an
3.4 	individual health care service because the individual has not
3.5 	provided consent according to this section.