I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2690 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate regulations clarifying the circumstances under which, consistent with the standards governing the privacy and security of individually identifiable health 

information promulgated by the Secretary under sections 262(a) and 

264 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, 

health care providers and covered entities may disclose the protected 

health information of patients with a mental illness, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 9, 2015 

Ms. MATSUI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 

promulgate regulations clarifying the circumstances 

under which, consistent with the standards governing 

the privacy and security of individually identifiable health 

information promulgated by the Secretary under sections 

262(a) and 264 of the Health Insurance Portability and 

Accountability Act of 1996, health care providers and 

covered entities may disclose the protected health information of patients with a mental illness, and for other 

purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Including Families in 

5 Mental Health Recovery Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER 

7 WHICH DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED HEALTH 

8 INFORMATION OF MENTAL ILLNESS PA9 TIENTS IS PERMITTED. 

10 The HITECH Act (title XIII of division A of Public 

11 Law 111–5) is amended by adding at the end of subtitle 

12 D of such Act (42 U.S.C. 17921 et seq.) the following: 

13 ‘‘PART 3—IMPROVED PRIVACY AND SECURITY 

14 PROVISIONS FOR MENTAL ILLNESS PATIENTS 

15 ‘‘SEC. 13431. CLARIFICATION OF CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER 

16 WHICH DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED HEALTH 

17 INFORMATION IS PERMITTED. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

19 date of enactment of the Including Families in Mental 

20 Health Recovery Act of 2015, the Secretary shall promul21 gate final regulations clarifying the circumstances under 

22 which, consistent with the standards governing the privacy 

23 and security of individually identifiable health information 

24 promulgated by the Secretary under sections 262(a) and 

25 264 of the Health Insurance Portability and AccountVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jun 10, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2690.IH H2690

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1 ability Act of 1996, health care providers and covered enti2 ties may disclose the protected health information of pa3 tients with a mental illness, including for purposes of— 

4 ‘‘(1) communicating with a patient’s family, 

5 caregivers, friends, or others involved in the pa6 tient’s care, including communication about treat7 ments, side effects, risk factors, and the availability 

8 of community resources; 

9 ‘‘(2) communicating with family or caregivers 

10 when the patient is an adult; 

11 ‘‘(3) communicating with the parent or care12 giver of a patient who is a minor; 

13 ‘‘(4) considering the patient’s capacity to agree 

14 or object to the sharing of their information; 

15 ‘‘(5) communicating and sharing information 

16 with a patient’s family or caregivers when— 

17 ‘‘(A) the patient consents; or 

18 ‘‘(B) the patient does not consent, but the 

19 patient lacks the capacity to agree or object and 

20 the communication or sharing of information is 

21 in the patient’s best interest; 

22 ‘‘(6) involving a patient’s family members, 

23 friends, or caregivers, or others involved in the pa24 tient’s care in the patient’s care plan, including 

25 treatment and medication adherence, in dealing with 


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1 patient failures to adhere to medication or other 

2 therapy; 

3 ‘‘(7) listening to or receiving information from 

4 family members or caregivers about their loved ones 

5 receiving mental illness treatment; 

6 ‘‘(8) communicating with family members, care7 givers, law enforcement, or others when the patient 

8 presents a serious and imminent threat of harm to 

9 self or others; and 

10 ‘‘(9) communicating to law enforcement and 

11 family members or caregivers about the admission of 

12 a patient to receive care at a facility or the release 

13 of a patient who was admitted to a facility for an 

14 emergency psychiatric hold or involuntary treatment. 

15 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall carry out 

16 this section in coordination with the Director of the Office 

17 for Civil Rights within the Department of Health and 

18 Human Services. 

19 ‘‘(c) CONSISTENCY WITH GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 

20 shall ensure that the regulations under this section are 

21 consistent with the guidance entitled ‘HIPAA Privacy 

22 Rule and Sharing Information Related to Mental Health’, 

23 issued by the Department of Health and Human Services 

24 on February 20, 2014.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION OF MODEL 

2 TRAINING PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) INITIAL PROGRAMS AND MATERIALS.—Not later 

4 than one year after promulgating final regulations under 

5 section 13431 of the HITECH Act, as added by section 

6 2, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this 

7 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall develop and 

8 disseminate— 

9 (1) a model program and materials for training 

10 health care providers (including physicians, emer11 gency medical personnel, psychologists, counselors, 

12 therapists, behavioral health facilities and clinics, 

13 care managers, and hospitals) regarding the cir14 cumstances under which, consistent with the stand15 ards governing the privacy and security of individ16 ually identifiable health information promulgated by 

17 the Secretary under sections 262(a) and 264 of the 

18 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 

19 of 1996, the protected health information of patients 

20 with a mental illness may be disclosed with and 

21 without patient consent; 

22 (2) a model program and materials for training 

23 lawyers and others in the legal profession on such 

24 circumstances; and 

25 (3) a model program and materials for training 

26 patients and their families regarding their rights to 


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1 protect and obtain information under the standards 

2 specified in paragraph (1). 

3 (b) PERIODIC UPDATES.—The Secretary shall— 

4 (1) periodically review and update the model 

5 programs and materials developed under subsection 

6 (a); and 

7 (2) disseminate the updated model programs 

8 and materials. 

9 (c) CONTENTS.—The programs and materials devel10 oped under subsection (a) shall address the guidance enti11 tled ‘‘HIPAA Privacy Rule and Sharing Information Re12 lated to Mental Health’’, issued by the Department of 

13 Health and Human Services on February 20, 2014. 

14 (d) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall carry out 

15 this section in coordination with the Director of the Office 

16 for Civil Rights within the Department of Health and 

17 Human Services, the Administrator of the Substance 

18 Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the 

19 Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Ad20 ministration, and the heads of other relevant agencies 

21 within the Department of Health and Human Services. 

22 (e) INPUT OF CERTAIN ENTITIES.—In developing the 

23 model programs and materials required by subsections (a) 

24 and (b), the Secretary shall solicit the input of relevant 


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1 national, State, and local associations, medical societies, 

2 and licensing boards. 

3 (f) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro4 priated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for fiscal year 

5 2016 and $25,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2017 

6 through 2022. 

Æ 


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