SB96 Alabama 2023 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Sam GivhanSenator

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2023

Title

Relating to the Alabama Medical Liability Act of 1996; to amend Section 6-5-549.1 of the Code of Alabama 1975, to provide that the term "health care provider" as used in that act and the Alabama Medical Liability Act of 1987 would include emergency medical services personnel and any emergency medical provider service.

Summary

SB96 expands who is considered a health care provider under Alabama's Medical Liability Acts to include emergency medical services personnel and emergency provider services, along with certain licensed professionals.

What This Bill Does

The bill broadens the definition of 'health care provider' to include EMS personnel and emergency provider services, and explicitly includes licensed optometrists, chiropractors, podiatrists and their professional entities in the liability framework. It also adds a rule that trial evidence cannot show that a witness is insured by the same insurer as the defendant health care provider, to reduce insurer-related bias. The act would apply to actions pending at the time of its effective date and would become effective on the first day of the third month after passage, with certain transitional and definitional details.

Who It Affects

• Emergency medical services personnel and emergency medical provider services, who would be treated as health care providers under the act and thus subject to its liability standards.
• Licensed optometrists, licensed chiropractors, licensed podiatrists, and their professional corporations or associations, who would be included in the liability framework as health care providers (with certain exceptions noted in the bill).

Key Provisions

• Expands the definition of 'health care provider' in the Alabama Medical Liability Act of 1996 and the Alabama Medical Liability Act of 1987 to include emergency medical services personnel and emergency medical provider services, and to include optometrists, chiropractors, podiatrists and their professional corporations/associations.
• Prohibits the introduction of evidence at trial that a witness is insured by the same insurer as the defendant health care provider, to reduce insurer-related prejudice in malpractice cases.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Medical Liability Act of 1996, Health care provider to include emergency medical services personnel and provider services