- The Honorable Sam Graves, Chair
Cmte on Transportation & Infrastructure
2165 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515 - The Honorable Rick Larsen, Ranking Member
Cmte on Transportation & Infrastructure
2163 Rayburn Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Subject: Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025
Dear Chairman Graves and Ranking Member Larsen:
I’m writing on behalf of the Health Coalition on Liability and Access (HCLA) to recommend an addition to the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025.
In case you are not aware, HCLA (membership list enclosed) is a diverse coalition of medical professionals, medical liability insurers, and associations representing healthcare stakeholders working to improve timely access to care. Our coalition has long supported efforts to enhance access to care throughout the United States, and we strongly encourage efforts to reduce and eliminate health system issues which could result in fewer healthcare professionals being able to provide care to the American public. In recent years we have particularly focused on how to increase access to care during major emergencies and public health crises. In this regard we strongly recommend adding the Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act (H.R. 2819 in the 118th Congress – see enclosure) to the discussion draft of the FEMA Act of 2025.
Following national calamities such as a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or pandemic outbreak, it is crucial for affected Americans to have access to adequate medical resources in a timely manner. Unfortunately, federal law does not provide adequate protection to healthcare professionals who spontaneously volunteer their medical services in these times of need, nor does it protect those volunteers who cross state
lines to treat victims of such tragedies. Compounding this problem, the current patchwork of state laws that aim to encourage medical volunteerism are ambiguous and inconsistent, especially when applied to large-scale events. These issues create an environment where vital medical volunteers may be turned away or forced to limit their services at a time when their help is most needed.
Congress wisely saw fit to enact healthcare volunteer liability protections in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in 2020, creating a path for volunteer healthcare professionals to be available to treat the patients most in need during the coronavirus outbreak. Unfortunately, that legislation was limited to the treatment of COVID-19, leaving victims of future outbreaks or disasters with limited access to life-saving volunteer care.
The Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act corrects these problems by applying the same volunteer protections from the CARES Act to volunteers responding to future disasters or public health emergencies. Providing these needed civil liability protections to licensed healthcare professionals who volunteer their time and skills to treat disaster victims will help ensure medical care is available in future emergencies. Doing so now, before the next event occurs, will also save valuable time in getting care where it is needed most. Additionally, the bill only applies these protections to care delivered during the duration of a federal disaster declaration or public health emergency, limiting its scope solely to the times of greatest need.
The Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act embraces many of the goals of the
FEMA Act of 2025:
- It unleashes the power of the private sector to increase healthcare assistance where and when it is most needed;
- It does not add to taxpayer costs;
- It does not disrupt current state laws regarding volunteerism or disaster recovery;
- It uses a commonsense approach to enhance access to care – building upon previously enacted law to do so.
On behalf of the Health Coalition on Liability and Access, I thank you for your efforts to improve our nation’s response to large-scale emergencies and for your leadership in putting forward the discussion draft of the FEMA Act of 2025. If there is any additional information we can provide regarding the need for, and benefits of, the Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act, please do not hesitate to contact me at 240-813-6139 or mstinson@MPLassociation.org.
Sincerely,
Michael C. Stinson, HCLA Chair
Vice President, Public Policy and Legal Affairs
Medical Professional Liability Association
Click here to view the full Neurosurgery Supports Inclusion of the Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act in the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025
