I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2062 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to protect the confidentiality of 

substance use disorder patient records. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2019 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. MULLIN, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. WALDEN, 

Mr. PETERS, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. KELLY of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania, Mr. ROUDA, 

Mr. WRIGHT, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. HOLDING, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. CRENSHAW, 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. EVANS, Mr. 

BILIRAKIS, and Ms. SEWELL of Alabama) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to protect the 

confidentiality of substance use disorder patient records. 

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 ‘‘Overdose Prevention 

5 and Patient Safety Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONFIDENTIALITY AND DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS 

2 RELATING TO SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER. 

3 (a) CONFORMING CHANGES RELATING TO SUB4 STANCE USE DISORDER.—Subsections (a) and (h) of sec5 tion 543 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 290dd–2) are each amended by striking ‘‘substance 

7 abuse’’ and inserting ‘‘substance use disorder’’. 

8 (b) DISCLOSURES TO COVERED ENTITIES CON9 SISTENT WITH HIPAA.—Paragraph (2) of section 543(b) 

10 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2(b)) 

11 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(D) To a covered entity or to a program 

13 or activity described in subsection (a), for the 

14 purposes of treatment, payment, and health 

15 care operations, so long as such disclosure is 

16 made in accordance with HIPAA privacy regu17 lation. Any redisclosure of information so dis18 closed may only be made in accordance with 

19 this section.’’. 

20 (c) DISCLOSURES OF DE-IDENTIFIED HEALTH IN21 FORMATION TO PUBLIC HEALTH AUTHORITIES.—Para22 graph (2) of section 543(b) of the Public Health Service 

23 Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2(b)), as amended by subsection 

24 (b), is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(E) To a public health authority, so long 

26 as such content meets the standards established 


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1 in section 164.514(b) of title 45, Code of Fed2 eral Regulations (or successor regulations) for 

3 creating de-identified information.’’. 

4 (d) DEFINITIONS.—Subsection (b) of section 543 of 

5 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub8 section: 

9 ‘‘(A) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘cov10 ered entity’ has the meaning given such term 

11 for purposes of HIPAA privacy regulation. 

12 ‘‘(B) HEALTH CARE OPERATIONS.—The 

13 term ‘health care operations’ has the meaning 

14 given such term for purposes of HIPAA privacy 

15 regulation. 

16 ‘‘(C) HIPAA PRIVACY REGULATION.—The 

17 term ‘HIPAA privacy regulation’ has the mean18 ing given such term under section 1180(b)(3) of 

19 the Social Security Act. 

20 ‘‘(D) INDIVIDUALLY IDENTIFIABLE

21 HEALTH INFORMATION.—The term ‘individually 

22 identifiable health information’ has the meaning 

23 given such term for purposes of HIPAA privacy 

24 regulation. 


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1 ‘‘(E) PAYMENT.—The term ‘payment’ has 

2 the meaning given such term for purposes of 

3 HIPAA privacy regulation. 

4 ‘‘(F) PUBLIC HEALTH AUTHORITY.—The 

5 term ‘public health authority’ has the meaning 

6 given such term for purposes of HIPAA privacy 

7 regulation. 

8 ‘‘(G) TREATMENT.—The term ‘treatment’ 

9 has the meaning given such term for purposes 

10 of HIPAA privacy regulation.’’. 

11 (e) USE OF RECORDS IN CRIMINAL, CIVIL, OR AD12 MINISTRATIVE INVESTIGATIONS, ACTIONS, OR PRO13 CEEDINGS.—Subsection (c) of section 543 of the Public 

14 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2) is amended to 

15 read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(c) USE OF RECORDS IN CRIMINAL, CIVIL, OR AD17 MINISTRATIVE CONTEXTS.—Except as otherwise author18 ized by a court order under subsection (b)(2)(C) or by the 

19 consent of the patient, a record referred to in subsection 

20 (a) may not, in connection with any investigation of, or 

21 criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding against, a pa22 tient— 

23 ‘‘(1) be entered into evidence in any criminal 

24 prosecution or civil action before a Federal or State 

25 court; 


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1 ‘‘(2) form part of the record for decision or oth2 erwise be taken into account in any proceeding be3 fore a Federal agency; 

4 ‘‘(3) be used by any Federal, State, or local 

5 agency for a law enforcement purpose or to conduct 

6 any law enforcement investigation; or 

7 ‘‘(4) be used in any application for a warrant.’’. 

8 (f) PENALTIES.—Subsection (f) of section 543 of the 

9 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2) is amend10 ed to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(f) PENALTIES.—The provisions of sections 1176 

12 and 1177 of the Social Security Act shall apply to a viola13 tion of this section to the extent and in the same manner 

14 as such provisions apply to a violation of part C of title 

15 XI of such Act. In applying the previous sentence— 

16 ‘‘(1) the reference to ‘this subsection’ in sub17 section (a)(2) of such section 1176 shall be treated 

18 as a reference to ‘this subsection (including as ap19 plied pursuant to section 543(f) of the Public Health 

20 Service Act)’; and 

21 ‘‘(2) in subsection (b) of such section 1176— 

22 ‘‘(A) each reference to ‘a penalty imposed 

23 under subsection (a)’ shall be treated as a ref24 erence to ‘a penalty imposed under subsection 


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1 (a) (including as applied pursuant to section 

2 543(f) of the Public Health Service Act)’; and 

3 ‘‘(B) each reference to ‘no damages ob4 tained under subsection (d)’ shall be treated as 

5 a reference to ‘no damages obtained under sub6 section (d) (including as applied pursuant to 

7 section 543(f) of the Public Health Service 

8 Act)’.’’. 

9 (g) ANTIDISCRIMINATION.—Section 543 of the Public 

10 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2) is amended by 

11 adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(i) ANTIDISCRIMINATION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No entity shall discrimi14 nate against an individual on the basis of informa15 tion received by such entity pursuant to a disclosure 

16 made under subsection (b) in— 

17 ‘‘(A) admission or treatment for health 

18 care; 

19 ‘‘(B) hiring or terms of employment; 

20 ‘‘(C) the sale or rental of housing; or 

21 ‘‘(D) access to Federal, State, or local 

22 courts. 

23 ‘‘(2) RECIPIENTS OF FEDERAL FUNDS.—No re24 cipient of Federal funds shall discriminate against 

25 an individual on the basis of information received by 


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1 such recipient pursuant to a disclosure made under 

2 subsection (b) in affording access to the services 

3 provided with such funds.’’. 

4 (h) NOTIFICATION IN CASE OF BREACH.—Section 

5 543 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd– 

6 2), as amended by subsection (g), is further amended by 

7 adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(j) NOTIFICATION IN CASE OF BREACH.— 

9 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION OF HITECH NOTIFICATION

10 OF BREACH PROVISIONS.—The provisions of section 

11 13402 of the HITECH Act (42 U.S.C. 17932) shall 

12 apply to a program or activity described in sub13 section (a), in case of a breach of records described 

14 in subsection (a), to the same extent and in the 

15 same manner as such provisions apply to a covered 

16 entity in the case of a breach of unsecured protected 

17 health information. 

18 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 

19 terms ‘covered entity’ and ‘unsecured protected 

20 health information’ have the meanings given to such 

21 terms for purposes of such section 13402.’’. 

22 (i) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con23 gress that any person treating a patient through a pro24 gram or activity with respect to which the confidentiality 

25 requirements of section 543 of the Public Health Service 


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1 Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2) apply should access the applica2 ble State-based prescription drug monitoring program as 

3 a precaution against substance use disorder. 

4 (j) REGULATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

6 Human Services, in consultation with appropriate 

7 Federal agencies, shall make such revisions to regu8 lations as may be necessary for implementing and 

9 enforcing the amendments made by this section, 

10 such that such amendments shall apply with respect 

11 to uses and disclosures of information occurring on 

12 or after the date that is 12 months after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act. 

14 (2) EASILY UNDERSTANDABLE NOTICE OF PRI15 VACY PRACTICES.—Not later than 1 year after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

17 Health and Human Services, in consultation with 

18 appropriate experts, shall update section 164.520 of 

19 title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, so that cov20 ered entities provide notice, written in plain lan21 guage, of privacy practices regarding patient records 

22 referred to in section 543(a) of the Public Health 

23 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2(a)), including— 

24 (A) a statement of the patient’s rights, in25 cluding self-pay patients, with respect to proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:31 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2062.IH H2062

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1 tected health information and a brief descrip2 tion of how the individual may exercise these 

3 rights (as required by paragraph (b)(1)(iv) of 

4 such section 164.520); and 

5 (B) a description of each purpose for 

6 which the covered entity is permitted or re7 quired to use or disclose protected health infor8 mation without the patient’s written authoriza9 tion (as required by paragraph (b)(2) of such 

10 section 164.520). 

11 (k) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

12 or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed 

13 to limit— 

14 (1) a patient’s right, as described in section 

15 164.522 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

16 any successor regulation, to request a restriction on 

17 the use or disclosure of a record referred to in sec18 tion 543(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 290dd–2(a)) for purposes of treatment, pay20 ment, or health care operations; or 

21 (2) a covered entity’s choice, as described in 

22 section 164.506 of title 45, Code of Federal Regula23 tions, or any successor regulation, to obtain the con24 sent of the individual to use or disclose a record reVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:31 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2062.IH H2062

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1 ferred to in such section 543(a) to carry out treat2 ment, payment, or health care operation. 

3 (l) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con4 gress that— 

5 (1) patients have the right to request a restric6 tion on the use or disclosure of a record referred to 

7 in section 543(a) of the Public Health Service Act 

8 (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2(a)) for treatment, payment, or 

9 health care operations; and 

10 (2) covered entities should make every reason11 able effort to the extent feasible to comply with a 

12 patient’s request for a restriction regarding such use 

13 or disclosure. 

Æ 


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