Twentieth Northern Marianas Commonwealth Legislature

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Twentieth Northern Marianas Commonwealth Legislature"

Bethany Melton
5 years ago
Views:

BE IT ENACTED BY THE TWENTIETH NORTHERN MARIANAS COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATURE: 1 Section 1. Findings and Purpose.

1 Twentieth Northern Marianas Commonwealth Legislature IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Session, 2017 H.B. 20-'l A BILL FOR AN ACT To require tourists to obtain health insurance before visiting the Commonwealth; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE TWENTIETH NORTHERN MARIANAS COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATURE: 1 Section 1. Findings and Purpose. The Legislature finds that there was an 2 outbreak for the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus 3 between November 2002 and July According to the World Health 4 Organization, the terrorizing outbreak has led to a reporting of over 8,800 cases, 5 resulting in over 770 deaths in 37 countries. Such countries include Philippines, 6 Korea, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, China, etc. The CNMI is prone to such a 7 disease due to the influx of tourists from all over the globe. 8 The Legislature further finds that there was an outbreak of the Zika Virus 9 beginning from 2007 and extending to During the duration, the virus spread 10 eastward across the Pacific Ocean to the Americas. The Legislature further finds 11 that the Zika Virus is highly related to dengue fever, yellow fever, Japanese 12 encephalitis, and the West Nile viruses. Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical 13 disease for which a vaccine has been approved; 200,000 cases have been reported 14 for Yellow Fever which has resulted in 30,000 deaths annually and nearly one

HOUSE BILL ~0 ~%, 1 billion people in the world live in an area that is likely to generate the virus; and 2 70,000 cases have been reported annually for Japanese Encephalitis and major 3 epidemics

The 4 CNMI prospers from the visitations of tourists from countries all over Asia and 5 the globe that have generated all these diseases and viruses.

2 HOUSE BILL ~0 ~%, 1 billion people in the world live in an area that is likely to generate the virus; and 2 70,000 cases have been reported annually for Japanese Encephalitis and major 3 epidemics have occurred in Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. The 4 CNMI prospers from the visitations of tourists from countries all over Asia and 5 the globe that have generated all these diseases and viruses. Therefore, the need 6 ensure protection for our Commonwealth from such diseases and viruses should 7 be a top priority. 8 The Legislature also finds that although many tourists visit the CNMI to 9 explore and experience the pleasures that our Commonwealth has to offer, some 10 of them generate illnesses that may require them to seek medical attention from 11 the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (CHCC). Upon receiving medical 12 treatment, many of these tourists do not have acceptable health insurance that 13 allows CHCC to acquire the appropriate financial means. Due to such 14 circumstances, the burden falls upon CHCC and the CNMI Government to cover 15 such costs. If this matter cannot be properly handled, health care matters within 16 the CNMI will continue to deteriorate. 17 Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to require all tourists to obtain health 18 and/or travel insurance before visiting the Commonwealth. 19 Section 2. Enactment. Notwithstanding any laws or regulations to the 20 contrary and subject to proper codification by the CNMI Law Revision 21 Commission, the following new provision is hereby enacted: 22 " 101. Definition. - 2-

3 HOUSE BILL 2._0 'U'a "Tourist" and/or "Tourists" shall mean any person(s) who is travelling or visiting the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for pleasure CHCC-Airport Health Screening Operations. The Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation has the authority to conduct health screening operations in all airports within the CNMI Tourist Insurance Requirement. All tourists must, before entry, obtain health insurance that should cover sudden illness ( due to any cause), accidental injury and emergent assistance, in which (a) the minimum sum insured for accidental death is USD 150,000, (b) the minimum sum for sudden illness ( due to any cause) and ( c) accidental injury is USD 20,000, and the minimum sum for emergent assistance is USD 100,000. ( d) The insurance period should include the whole approved duration of the tourist's stay in the CNMI. ( e) Besides, the insurer issuing the policy for tourists should ensure that all insurance benefit and assistance cost can be paid directly by the insurer or by qualified/authorized third party in the CNMI. (f) Failure to have any proper health insurance documents upon arrival in the CNMI a non refundable of $2, fee shall be imposed on the individual Enforcement Authority. - 3-

HOUSE BILL ao, ti t. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 (a) The Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation shall be responsible for the enforcement of this Act.

accordance with 103 the service capability of the insurer who sells the insurance policy to the tourists visiting the CNMI, as well as content of the policies, and (2) conducting verification of

4 HOUSE BILL ao, ti t (a) The Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation shall be responsible for the enforcement of this Act. (b) In order to achieve the purpose of this Act, CHCC has the authority to establish relevant rules and adopt appropriate measures, which include but not limited to the following: (1) Reviewing in accordance with 103 the service capability of the insurer who sells the insurance policy to the tourists visiting the CNMI, as well as content of the policies, and (2) conducting verification of insurance policies of tourists in all airports within the CNMI. (3) Relevant government departments should assist CHCC with the enforcement process of this Act Fines. Any tourist in violation of 102 shall be subject to a fine of no less than $5, Disposition of Fines. All fines collected pursuant to 103 shall be dispositioned as follows: (a) Sixty percent (60%) to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation for the upgrade of the medical equipment and facilities of the Commonwealth Health Care Corporation; and (b) Forty percent (40%) to the General Fund." - 4-

application of its 4 provisions to persons or circumstances other than those to which it is held invalid 5 shall not be affected thereby. 6 Section 4. Savings Clause.

5 HOUSE BaL ~0- "2. 1 Section 3. Severability. If any provision of this Act or the application of 2 any such provision to any person or circumstance should be held invalid by a 3 court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this Act or the application of its 4 provisions to persons or circumstances other than those to which it is held invalid 5 shall not be affected thereby. 6 Section 4. Savings Clause. This Act and any repealer contained herein 7 shall not be construed as affecting any existing right acquired under contract or 8 acquired under statutes repealed or under any rule, regulation or order adopted 9 under the statutes. Repealers contained in this Act shall not affect any proceeding 10 instituted under or pursuant to prior law. The enactment of this Act shall not have 11 the effect of terminating, or in any way modifying, any liability civil or criminal, 12 which shall already be in existence at the date this Act becomes effective. 13 Section 5. Effective Date. This Act shall take effect four ( 4) months 14 upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such 15 approval. Prefiled: \MYO'\ \1 Date: ~'lri,,ei \ ( 1 Introduced by: Rep. J seph Lee Pan T. Guerrero - 5-

TWELFTH NORTHERN MARIANAS COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATURE AN ACT

TWELFTH NORTHERN MARIANAS COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATURE THIRD REGULAR SESSION, 2001 Public Law 12-51 H. B. NO. 12-345, CD1, SD1 AN ACT To provide a 90-day amnesty period for the filing of delinquent returns