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TO AMEND TITLE 44, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 132 SO AS TO PROHIBIT PHYSICIANS AND OTHER SPECIFIED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS FROM SOLICITING PAYMENT FOR OUTPATIENT ANATOMIC PATHOLOGY OR CYTOLOGY SERVICES UNLESS THE SERVICE WAS PERSONALLY RENDERED BY THAT PHYSICIAN OR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER AND TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS AND PENALTIES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Title 44, of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 44-132-10. Except as provided in Section 44-132-20, a person licensed to practice in this State as a physician, surgeon, or osteopath, a dentist or dental surgeon, a nurse practitioner, or a physician's assistant must not charge, bill, or otherwise solicit payment for outpatient anatomic pathology services or cytology services including, but not limited to, the Pap test, unless the services were rendered personally by the licensed practitioner or under the licensed practitioner's direct supervision.
Section 44-132-20. A person licensed to practice medicine in this State, who is qualified as a specialist in pathology, or a professional legal or a corporate entity of which such person is a shareholder, partner, employee, or owner, may submit a bill for outpatient anatomic pathology services to:
(1) the patient directly;
(2) the responsible insurer or other third-party payor;
(3) the hospital, public health clinic, or nonprofit health clinic; or
(4) the referral laboratory or the primary laboratory.
Section 44-132-30. The professional licensing boards in this State that license and regulate the practitioners specified in Section 44-132-10, may, in addition to all other authority granted to these boards, revoke, suspend, or deny the renewal of the license of a practitioner who violates a provision of this chapter. A patient, insurer, third-party payor, hospital, public health clinic, or nonprofit health clinic must not be required to reimburse these practitioners for charges or bills submitted in violation of this chapter.
Section 44-132-49. The provisions of this chapter do not prohibit billing between laboratories for anatomic pathology services in instances where a sample or samples must be sent to another specialist."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2004.
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