Bill
HB 1011
Creates a regulated framework permitting terminally ill adults to self-administer prescribed life-ending medication with safeguards and provider protections.
Status and Procedural History
- Introduced: November 12, 2024.
- Current status (as provided): First reading; referred to Committee on Public Health.
- Companion / related measures noted in the record: SB 154, SB 1330, SB 786.
- Effective date shown in the introduced text: July 1, 2025 (alternate drafting iterations show July 1, 2026 in later sessions).
Purpose and Intent
- Establishes a statutory framework authorizing medical aid in dying (also described as “medical aid in dying” or “medical aid in dying medication”) for certain terminally ill patients who meet eligibility and procedural safeguards, permitting them to obtain medication they may self‑administer to peacefully end their life.
Key Definitions (selected)
- “Qualified patient”: an individual at least 18 years old, an in‑state resident, and who meets all statutory eligibility and procedural requirements.
- “Terminal illness”: an incurable, irreversible illness expected to result in death within six months, as confirmed by providers.
- “Self‑administer”: the qualified patient’s conscious, voluntary ingestion of prescribed medication; expressly excludes parenteral injection or infusion.
Eligibility and Request Process (high‑level)
- A patient must be at least 18, an in‑state resident, capable of making and communicating health care decisions, diagnosed with a terminal illness, and have voluntarily expressed a wish to receive medical aid in dying.
- The law requires both an attending provider and a consulting provider to evaluate and confirm diagnosis, prognosis, and patient capacity.
- The patient must make an oral request and a written request in the statutory form; the statute requires additional steps such as reiteration of the oral request or other procedural safeguards (full text truncated in source).
Provider requirements and safeguards
- Providers must meet statutory qualifications before prescribing the medication (attending and consulting roles are defined).
- Counseling/consultation (including mental health assessment where necessary) is required to ensure the patient is capable and not suffering from a psychiatric or psychological condition that impairs decision‑making.
- The medication is for patient self‑administration only; providers are not required to participate and may be granted conscience protections under the bill’s immunity provisions.
Legal Protections, Penalties, and Insurance
- Immunity: The bill establishes certain civil and criminal immunities for health care providers who act in good faith in compliance with the statute.
- Criminal penalties:
- Level 1 felony where, without patient authorization, a person willfully alters/forges/conceals/destroys a request (or rescission) with intent or effect of causing the patient’s death, or where a person knowingly coerces or exerts undue influence to obtain or revoke a request.
- Class A misdemeanor for unauthorized alteration/forgery/concealment/destruction of a request to affect a health care decision (without the death‑causing intent).
- Insurance: Prohibits a life insurer from denying benefits under a life insurance policy based on a suicide exclusion if the insured’s death results from medical aid in dying.
Who is affected
- Primary: terminally ill patients who meet statutory criteria and their families/caregivers.
- Health care professionals: attending and consulting health care providers who must follow the new procedural and documentation requirements.
- Insurers: life insurers are restricted from invoking suicide clauses in covered cases arising from medical aid in dying.
- Potentially broader health system and legal actors because of new reporting, documentation, and criminal/ civil provisions.
Potential Impact and Notes
- Creates a regulated pathway for terminally ill, competent adults to request and self‑administer life‑ending medication under specified safeguards.
- Introduces significant criminal penalties to protect against coercion or unauthorized manipulation of patient requests.
- May affect clinical practice, provider policies, institutional conscience exemptions, and life‑insurance claims administration.
- Drafting variations in the legislative record show different effective dates and related procedural language; readers should consult the bill’s current printed version in the relevant legislative session for full, operative text.
Where to find the full text
- Review the bill text of HB 1011 (the “End of life options” / medical aid in dying draft) in the legislature’s bill tracker for the session in which it was introduced to see complete eligibility criteria, waiting periods, required forms, and provider duties.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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