Lawmakers in Missouri are attempting to protect health care providers, including nursing and care homes, from lawsuits arising from the COVID-19 crisis.
Representatives have passed a bill that includes provisions that will limit liability for all those providing care linked to the pandemic, including homes, health care companies and their workers.
The legislation was proposed in the absence of an emergency order from Gov. Mike Parson, who had been urged to issue one but may have been discouraged from doing so due to confusion over questions on whether it was constitutional.
Under the bill, any health care provider "who in good faith renders care or assistance, with or without compensation, in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic....shall not be liable for any civil damages for any acts or omissions that occur during a period where there is...a state of emergency exists."
The exceptions are where is "gross negligence or by willful or wanton acts or omissions by such provider in rendering the care or assistance." No lawsuits linked to care in homes during the crisis have been confirmed.
This is not immunity, but it does provide protection, Bill Bates, chief executive of LeadingAge Missouri, a nursing and care home trade organization, told the St. Louis Record.
"We did not originate it, but we support it – we think it’s a reasonable, fair and balanced approach to the COVID crisis where what healthcare providers 'know' about the 'novel virus' changes daily," Bates said.
The coronavirus has infected residents in nearly 80 nursing homes and assisted care facilities in Missouri, according to state health officials.
"Some states acted to provide civil liability protection by EO (executive order)," Bates said, adding there is some conversation that any change to a threshold for recovery would be unconstitutional in Missouri," Bates said.
"Missouri already has a statute that delivers civil liability protection for emergency healthcare providers, but it triggers in ways that apparently don’t apply to the current pandemic.
"We asked the Governor to act or support civil liability protection – not immunity – in early April. He did not respond, but then legislation surfaced.
"From conversations with peers in other associations that serve members delivering healthcare, I believe all support limited civil liability protection.
"Importantly, the legislation that’s proposed does not foreclose a lawsuit or recovery – there’s no immunity. The language simply increases the proof threshold for recovery, which we think is an appropriate balance among competing interests during a crisis when so much is unknown.
"In a crisis, you focus on doing right – the best you can with available knowledge and resources – not on what you might be doing wrong."
Gov. Parson has expressed his support for the bill.