An Act to Protect Communication with Providers of Critical
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0882
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: SALISBURY
Amends: 22 MRSA §1711-C, 22 MRSA §4011-A, 25 MRSA §4203

Legislative Document
No. 882
H.P. 568
House of Representatives, March 4, 2025
An Act to Protect Communication with Providers of Critical 
Incident Stress Management Peer Support
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SALISBURY of Westbrook.
Cosponsored by Representatives: CLOUTIER of Lewiston, GRAMLICH of Old Orchard 
Beach, MATHIESON of Kittery, STOVER of Boothbay, TERRY of Gorham.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §1711-C, sub-§1, ¶C, as amended by PL 1999, c. 512, Pt. A, 
§5 and affected by §7 and c. 790, Pt. A, §§58 and 60, is further amended to read:
C.  "Health care" means preventative, diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitative, 
maintenance or palliative care, services, treatment, procedures or counseling, including 
appropriate assistance with disease or symptom management and maintenance, that 
affects an individual's physical, mental or behavioral condition, including individual 
cells or their components or genetic information, or the structure or function of the 
human body or any part of the human body.  Health care includes prescribing, 
dispensing or furnishing to an individual drugs, biologicals, medical devices or health 
care equipment and supplies; providing hospice services to an individual; and the 
banking of blood, sperm, organs or any other tissue; and critical incident stress 
management peer support as defined in Title 25, section 4201, subsection 1-A.
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §4011-A, sub-§1, ¶A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 211, Pt. B, 
§18 and PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. W, §5, is further amended by amending subparagraph (31) to 
read:
(31)  A family or domestic violence victim advocate; and
Sec. 3.  22 MRSA §4011-A, sub-§1, ¶A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 211, Pt. B, 
§18 and PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. W, §5, is further amended by amending subparagraph (32) to 
read:
(32)  A school bus driver or school bus attendant; and
Sec. 4.  22 MRSA §4011-A, sub-§1, ¶A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 211, Pt. B, 
§18 and PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. W, §5, is further amended by enacting a new subparagraph 
(33) to read:
(33)  A provider of critical incident stress management peer support as defined in 
Title 25, section 4201, subsection 1-A;
Sec. 5.  25 MRSA §4203 is enacted to read:
§4203.  Communication with providers of critical incident stress management peer 
support 
Except at the request of, or with the consent of, the person served, a provider of critical 
incident stress management peer support may not be required to testify in any civil or 
criminal action, suit or proceeding at law or in equity respecting any information that the 
provider may have acquired in providing critical incident stress management peer support 
to the person served if that information was necessary to enable the provider to furnish 
critical incident stress management peer support to the person served, except that, if the 
physical or mental condition of the person served is an issue in that action, suit or 
proceeding or if a court in the exercise of sound discretion determines the disclosure 
necessary to the proper administration of justice, information communicated to, or 
otherwise learned by, the provider in connection with the provision of critical incident 
stress management peer support may not be privileged and disclosure may be required.
This section does not prohibit disclosure by a provider of critical incident stress 
management peer support of information concerning a person served when that disclosure 
is required by law, and this section does not modify or affect the provisions of Title 22, 
sections 4011-A to 4015.
SUMMARY
This bill:
1. Includes critical incident stress management peer support in the definition of "health 
care" in the laws governing the confidentiality of health care information;
2. Provides that providers of critical incident stress management peer support are 
mandatory reporters of suspected child abuse or neglect or suspicious child deaths; and
3. Designates communications of providers of critical incident stress management peer 
support as privileged communications.