BILL NUMBER: AB 2179 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gipson
FEBRUARY 18, 2016
An act to add Section 122440 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to public health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2179, as amended, Gipson. Hepatitis C testing.
Existing law establishes the Office of AIDS in the State
Department of Public Health and defines human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) as the etiologic agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
(AIDS). Existing law authorizes an HIV counselor who receives
specified training and works in specified counseling and testing
sites to perform HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), or combined HIV/HCV
tests, including performing skin punctures for purposes of
withdrawing blood for purposes of these tests, as specified.
This bill would authorize a hepatis C counselor, who meets
specified requirements comparable to the requirements specified for
an HIV counselor, to perform HCV tests in the manner described above
with respect to HCV testing by an HIV counselor.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 122440 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
122440. (a) A hepatitis C counselor who meets the requirements of
subdivision (e) (d) may do all of the
following:
(1) Perform any hepatitis C virus (HCV) test that is classified as
waived under the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA)
(42 U.S.C. Sec. 263a et seq.) if all of the following conditions
exist:
(A) The performance of the HCV test meets the requirements of CLIA
and, subject to subparagraph (B), Chapter 3 (commencing with Section
1200) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code.
(B) Notwithstanding Section 1246 of the Business and Professions
Code, a hepatitis C counselor may perform skin punctures for the
purpose of withdrawing blood for HCV testing, upon specific
authorization from a licensed physician and surgeon, provided that
the person meets both of the following requirements:
(i) He or she works under the direction of a licensed physician
and surgeon.
(ii) He or she has been trained in both
either rapid test proficiency for skin puncture blood tests
and or oral swab tests and in universal
infection control precautions, consistent with best infection
control practices established by the Division of Occupational Safety
and Health in the Department of Industrial Relations and the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(C) The person performing the HCV test meets the requirements for
the performance of waived laboratory testing pursuant to subdivision
(a) of Section 1206.5 of the Business and Professions Code. For
purposes of this subdivision and subdivision (a) of Section 1206.5 of
the Business and Professions Code, a hepatitis C counselor who meets
the requirements of subdivision (e) (d)
shall be "other health care personnel providing direct patient
care" as referred to in paragraph (13) of subdivision (a) of Section
1206.5 of the Business and Professions Code.
(D) The patient is informed that the preliminary result of the
test is indicative of the likelihood of HCV exposure and that the
result must be confirmed by an additional more specific test, or, if
approved by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
for that purpose, a second, different rapid HCV test. This
subdivision does not allow a hepatitis C counselor to perform any HCV
test that is not classified as waived under CLIA.
(2) Notwithstanding Section 1246.5 of the Business and Professions
Code, order and report HCV test results from tests performed
pursuant to paragraph (1) to patients without authorization from a
licensed health care practitioner or his or her authorized
representative. A patient who has an indeterminate or
positive test results result from tests
performed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be referred to a licensed
health care practitioner whose scope of practice includes the
authority to refer a patient for laboratory testing for further
evaluation.
(b) A hepatitis C counselor shall not, unless also certified as a
limited phlebotomist technician, perform a skin puncture pursuant to
this section.
(c)
(b) A hepatitis C counselor who meets the requirements
of this section with respect to performing any HCV test that is
classified as waived under CLIA may not perform any other test unless
that person meets the statutory and regulatory requirements for
performing that other test.
(d)
(c) This section does not certify a hepatitis C
counselor as a phlebotomy technician or a limited phlebotomy
technician. Compliance with this section does not fulfill any
requirements for certification as a phlebotomy technician or a
limited phlebotomy technician, unless the hepatitis C counselor has
otherwise satisfied the certification requirements imposed pursuant
to Section 1246 of the Business and Professions Code.
(e)
(d) A hepatitis C counselor shall meet one of the
following criteria:
(1) Is trained by the Office of AIDS and working in an HIV
counseling and testing site funded by the department through a local
health jurisdiction, or its agents.
(2) Is working in an HIV counseling and testing site that meets
both of the following criteria:
(A) Utilizes HIV counseling staff who are trained by the Office of
AIDS or its agents to provide both HIV counseling and testing and
hepatitis C counseling and testing.
(B) Has a quality assurance plan approved by the local health
department in the jurisdiction where the site is located and has HIV
counseling and testing staff who comply with the quality assurance
requirements specified in Section 1230 of Article 1 of Group 9 of
Subchapter 1 of Chapter 2 of Division 1 of Title 17 of the California
Code of Regulations.
(3) Is working at a site approved by the local health department
to provide hepatitis C rapid testing and counseling, and has been
trained using a curriculum approved by the local health department or
the State Department of Public Health, which, at a minimum, provides
training in universal precautions, safe working conditions, proper
running and reading of hepatitis C rapid test kit technology, and
providing accurate information to clients including the importance of
confirmatory tests, linkages to medical care, and the prevention of
hepatitis C transmission.