I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5142 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the sharing of 

health information concerning an individual’s substance abuse treatment 

by certain entities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 29, 2016 

Mr. WALBERG (for himself, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. JENKINS of West Virginia, 

Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. MOONEY of West 

Virginia, Ms. KUSTER, and Mrs. LAWRENCE) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

the sharing of health information concerning an individual’s substance abuse treatment by certain entities. 

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 ‘‘Jessie’s Law’’. 

5 SEC. 2. CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDS. 

6 (a) EXPANSION OF WHO CAN CONSENT.—Section 

7 543(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 290dd–2(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (A) by inserting ‘‘or oral’’ after ‘‘written’’; 

3 and 

4 (B) by inserting ‘‘or a parent, legal guard5 ian, or spouse of the patient,’’ after ‘‘main6 tained’’; and 

7 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (A) by inserting ‘‘(or parent, legal guard9 ian, or spouse)’’ after ‘‘patient’’; and 

10 (B) by inserting ‘‘or oral’’ after ‘‘written’’. 

11 (b) EXCEPTION FOR SHARING OF CERTAIN INFOR12 MATION.—Section 543(e) of the Public Health Service Act 

13 (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2(e)) is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and in15 serting a semicolon; 

16 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period and 

17 inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

18 (3) after paragraph (2), by inserting the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(3) within accountable care organizations de21 scribed in section 1899 of the Social Security Act 

22 (42 U.S.C. 1395jjj), health information exchanges 

23 (as defined for purposes of section 3013), health 

24 homes (as defined in section 1945(h)(3) of such Act 

25 (42 U.S.C. 1396w–4(h)(3))), or other integrated 


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1 care arrangements (in existence before, on, or after 

2 the date of the enactment of this paragraph) involv3 ing the interchange of electronic health records (as 

4 defined in section 13400 of division A of Public Law 

5 111–5 (42 U.S.C. 17921(5))) containing information 

6 described in subsection (a), for purposes of attaining 

7 interoperability, improving care coordination, reduc8 ing health care costs, and securing or providing pa9 tient safety.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF OPIOID ADDICTION HISTORY IN PA11 TIENT RECORDS. 

12 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS.—Not later than 

13 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec14 retary of Health and Human Services shall develop and 

15 disseminate standards to provide information to hospitals 

16 and physicians relating to prominently displaying the his17 tory of opioid addiction in the medical records of patients 

18 (including electronic health records) if the patients have 

19 consented to having such information included in such 

20 records. 

21 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The standards developed 

22 under subsection (a) shall take into account the following: 

23 (1) The potential for addiction relapse or over24 dose death if opioid medications are prescribed to an 

25 individual recovering from opioid addiction. 


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1 (2) The need to display the past opioid addic2 tion of a patient in a manner similar to other poten3 tially lethal medical concerns, including drug aller4 gies and contraindications. 

5 (3) The need for information about past opioid 

6 addiction to be prominently displayed when a physi7 cian or medical professional is prescribing medica8 tion. 

9 (4) The need for a variety of medical profes10 sionals, including physicians, nurses, and phar11 macists, to have access to information described in 

12 this section when prescribing or dispensing opioid 

13 medication to ensure that the medication is medi14 cally appropriate given the history of addiction of 

15 the patient. 

Æ 


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