I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5795 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to protect the confidentiality of 
substance use disorder patient records. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 15, 2018 
Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. BARR, Mr. 
HULTGREN, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, and Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to protect the 
confidentiality of substance use disorder patient records. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Overdose Prevention 
and Patient Safety Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CONFIDENTIALITY AND DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS 
RELATING TO SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER. 
(a) CONFORMING CHANGES RELATING
TO SUB-
STANCE USE DISORDER.—Subsections (a) and (h) of sec-
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tion 543 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
290dd–2) are each amended by striking ‘‘substance 
abuse’’ and inserting ‘‘substance use disorder’’. 
(b) DISCLOSURES
TO COVERED ENTITIES CON-
SISTENT WITH HIPAA.—Paragraph (2) of section 543(b) 
of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2(b)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) To a covered entity or to a program 
or activity described in subsection (a), for the 
purposes of treatment, payment, and health 
care operations, so long as such disclosure is 
made in accordance with HIPAA privacy regu-
lation. Any redisclosure of information so dis-
closed may only be made in accordance with 
this section.’’. 
(c) DISCLOSURES OF DE-IDENTIFIED HEALTH IN-
FORMATION TO PUBLIC HEALTH AUTHORITIES.—Para-
graph (2) of section 543(b) of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2(b)), as amended by subsection 
(b), is further amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(E) To a public health authority, so long 
as such content does not include any individ-
ually identifiable health information and meets 
the standards established in section 164.514 of 
title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (or suc-
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‘‘(E) PAYMENT.—The term ‘payment’ has 
the meaning given such term for purposes of 
HIPAA privacy regulation. 
‘‘(F) PUBLIC
HEALTH
AUTHORITY.—The 
term ‘public health authority’ has the meaning 
given such term for purposes of HIPAA privacy 
regulation. 
‘‘(G) TREATMENT.—The term ‘treatment’ 
has the meaning given such term for purposes 
of HIPAA privacy regulation.’’. 
(e) USE OF RECORDS IN CRIMINAL, CIVIL, OR AD-
MINISTRATIVE
INVESTIGATIONS, ACTIONS, 
OR
PRO-
CEEDINGS.—Subsection (c) of section 543 of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2) is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(c) USE OF RECORDS IN CRIMINAL, CIVIL, OR AD-
MINISTRATIVE CONTEXTS.—Except as otherwise author-
ized by a court order under subsection (b)(2)(C) or by the 
consent of the patient, a record referred to in subsection 
(a) may not— 
‘‘(1) be entered into evidence in any criminal 
prosecution or civil action before a Federal or State 
court; 
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‘‘(2) form part of the record for decision or oth-
erwise be taken into account in any proceeding be-
fore a Federal agency; 
‘‘(3) be used by any Federal, State, or local 
agency for a law enforcement purpose or to conduct 
any law enforcement investigation of a patient; or 
‘‘(4) be used in any application for a warrant.’’. 
(f) PENALTIES.—Subsection (f) of section 543 of the 
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2) is amend-
ed to read as follows: 
‘‘(f) PENALTIES.—The provisions of section 1176 of 
the Social Security Act shall apply to a violation of this 
section to the extent and in the same manner as such pro-
visions apply to a violation of part C of title XI of such 
Act. In applying the previous sentence— 
‘‘(1) the reference to ‘this subsection’ in sub-
section (a)(2) of such section 1176 shall be treated 
as a reference to ‘this subsection (including as ap-
plied pursuant to section 543(f) of the Public Health 
Service Act)’; and 
‘‘(2) in subsection (b) of such section 1176— 
‘‘(A) each reference to ‘a penalty imposed 
under subsection (a)’ shall be treated as a ref-
erence to ‘a penalty imposed under subsection 
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(a) (including as applied pursuant to section 
543(f) of the Public Health Service Act)’; and 
‘‘(B) each reference to ‘no damages ob-
tained under subsection (d)’ shall be treated as 
a reference to ‘no damages obtained under sub-
section (d) (including as applied pursuant to 
section 543(f) of the Public Health Service 
Act)’.’’. 
(g) ANTIDISCRIMINATION.—Section 543 of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(i) ANTIDISCRIMINATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No entity shall discrimi-
nate against an individual on the basis of informa-
tion received by such entity pursuant to a disclosure 
made under subsection (b) in— 
‘‘(A) admission or treatment for health 
care; 
‘‘(B) hiring or terms of employment; 
‘‘(C) the sale or rental of housing; or 
‘‘(D) access to Federal, State, or local 
courts. 
‘‘(2) RECIPIENTS OF FEDERAL FUNDS.—No re-
cipient of Federal funds shall discriminate against 
an individual on the basis of information received by 
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such recipient pursuant to a disclosure made under 
subsection (b) in affording access to the services 
provided with such funds.’’. 
(h) NOTIFICATION IN CASE OF BREACH.—Section 
543 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd– 
2), as amended by subsection (g), is further amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(j) NOTIFICATION IN CASE OF BREACH.— 
‘‘(1) APPLICATION
OF
HITECH
NOTIFICATION 
OF BREACH PROVISIONS.—The provisions of section 
13402 of the HITECH Act (42 U.S.C. 17932) shall 
apply to a program or activity described in sub-
section (a), in case of a breach of records described 
in subsection (a), to the same extent and in the 
same manner as such provisions apply to a covered 
entity in the case of a breach of unsecured protected 
health information. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 
terms ‘covered entity’ and ‘unsecured protected 
health information’ have the meanings given to such 
terms for purposes of such section 13402.’’. 
(i) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con-
gress that any person treating a patient through a pro-
gram or activity with respect to which the confidentiality 
requirements of section 543 of the Public Health Service 
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Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2) apply should access the applica-
ble State-based prescription drug monitoring program as 
a precaution against substance use disorder. 
(j) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, in consultation with appropriate Federal 
agencies, shall make such revisions to regulations as may 
be necessary for implementing and enforcing the amend-
ments made by this section, such that such amendments 
shall apply with respect to uses and disclosures of informa-
tion occurring on or after the date that is 12 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act. 
(k) DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION OF MODEL 
TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER 
PATIENT RECORDS.— 
(1) INITIAL PROGRAMS AND MATERIALS.—Not 
later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices (referred to in this subsection as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’), in consultation with appropriate experts, 
shall identify the following model programs and ma-
terials (or if no such programs or materials exist, 
recognize private or public entities to develop and 
disseminate such programs and materials): 
(A) Model programs and materials for 
training health care providers (including physi-
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cians, emergency medical personnel, psychia-
trists, 
psychologists, 
counselors, 
therapists, 
nurse practitioners, physician assistants, behav-
ioral health facilities and clinics, care managers, 
and hospitals, including individuals such as gen-
eral counsels or regulatory compliance staff who 
are responsible for establishing provider privacy 
policies) concerning the permitted uses and dis-
closures, consistent with the standards and reg-
ulations governing the privacy and security of 
substance use disorder patient records promul-
gated by the Secretary under section 543 of the 
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd– 
2), as amended by this section, for the con-
fidentiality of patient records. 
(B) Model programs and materials for 
training patients and their families regarding 
their rights to protect and obtain information 
under the standards and regulations described 
in subparagraph (A). 
(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The model programs and 
materials described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 
paragraph (1) shall address circumstances under 
which disclosure of substance use disorder patient 
records is needed to— 
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(A) facilitate communication between sub-
stance use disorder treatment providers and 
other health care providers to promote and pro-
vide the best possible integrated care; 
(B) avoid inappropriate prescribing that 
can lead to dangerous drug interactions, over-
dose, or relapse; and 
(C) notify and involve families and care-
givers when individuals experience an overdose. 
(3) 
PERIODIC
UPDATES.—The 
Secretary 
shall— 
(A) periodically review and update the 
model programs and materials identified or de-
veloped under paragraph (1); and 
(B) disseminate such updated programs 
and materials to the individuals described in 
paragraph (1)(A). 
(4) INPUT OF CERTAIN ENTITIES.—In identi-
fying, reviewing, or updating the model programs 
and materials under this subsection, the Secretary 
shall solicit the input of relevant stakeholders. 
Æ 
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