Wash. Repeals UPPL Law March 30, 2004
News Summary
Washington Gov. Gary Locke signed into law a bill that would prohibit health insurers from denying coverage to patients whose injuries are the result of being under the influence of alcohol and other drugs, the Seattle Times reported March 25.Dr. Larry Gentilello, a University of Texas professor and department chairman at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas, brought the issue to light in 1999, when he conducted a study of alcohol-related injuries at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Gentilello found that providing patients under the influence with 30 minutes of counseling before releasing them would significantly reduce the likelihood that they would return with new injuries.
However, Gentilello found that hospitals were reluctant to provide counseling because of the state's Uniform Policy Provision Law (UPPL), which allowed insurers to refuse to pay the costs for patients injured while under the influence. "If we draw a drug-and-alcohol level test, the insurance company won't pay the bill, we won't get reimbursed, the doctors won't get paid, and we'll go under," said Gentilello in recalling comments made to him by administrators.
The issue intensified this year when Francine Terrell testified before the Washington legislature. She credited the counseling she received after she was admitted to Harborview Medical Center in 1992 for a smashed head and swollen brain from a drug-induced fall.
"The trauma intervention functioned as my catalyst," said Terrell, 49.
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