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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 1, 2021 03:23 PM |
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| From: | Representative Bryan Cutler and Rep. Michael H. Schlossberg, Rep. Frank A. Farry, Rep. Tina Pickett |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Mental Health Legislative Package |
| In near future, we will be introducing a package of bills to modernize Pennsylvania’s mental health and substance use disorder laws in order to promote “whole person” health care initiatives. Health care has changed dramatically since the 1970s, when Pennsylvania’s Mental Health Procedures Act (MHPA) and Drug and Alcohol Abuse Control Act (DAACA) were originally enacted. Today, there is a greater realization that behavioral health and physical health are interrelated and inseparable, and that the best patient outcomes are achieved when providers, case managers, and payors work together in the interest of the whole person, rather than approaching isolated aspects of a person’s health. Pennsylvanians do not always benefit from this type of integrated health care approach because the confidentiality restrictions of the MHPA and DAACA often prohibit the collaborative data sharing that is necessary to treat the whole person. As a result, we believe legislation is needed to modernize the MHPA and DAACA to align with today’s industry-standard restrictions on use and disclosure of patient information in furtherance of better health outcomes. These bills will accomplish those goals by aligning Pennsylvania law with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) standards and by allowing targeted data sharing between our Prescription Drug Monitoring Program and health insurers. These changes will permit providers, facilities and health plans to more easily share patient mental health and substance use disorder-related information so that health plans can more effectively identify gaps in care and provide better outreach, education and support. We hope you will join us in co-sponsoring this legislative package. |
Document #1
Introduced as HB1563
| Description: | Bill #1 (Cutler & Schlossberg): Amending the Pennsylvania Drug and Alcohol Abuse Control Act (DAACA) Amends the DAACA to align with HIPAA standards in order to permit providers, facilities and health plans to more easily share patient mental health and substance use disorder-related information. Utilizes the HIPAA terminology and requirements that are already familiar to providers, to create a consistent and easily understandable standard and revises outdated regulations to provide consistency between statutory and regulatory language and their intended requirements. |
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Document #2
Introduced as HB1561
| Description: | Bill #2 (Farry & Schlossberg): Amending the Mental Health Procedures Act (MHPA) Amends the MHPA to align with HIPAA standards in order to permit providers, facilities and health plans to more easily share patient mental health and substance use disorder-related information. Utilizes the HIPAA terminology and requirements that are already familiar to providers, to create a consistent and easily understandable standard and revises outdated regulations to provide consistency between statutory and regulatory language and their intended requirements. |
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Document #3
Introduced as HB1562
| Description: | Bill #3 (Pickett & Schlossberg): Amending the Achieving Better Care by Monitoring All Prescription Program Act (ABC-MAP) Amends the ABC-MAP to enable data sharing with insurers and to strengthen the Commonwealth’s efforts to address the opioid crisis by: 1) helping to identify and facilitate outreach to members with a potential substance use disorder; and 2) bolstering the fight against fraud, abuse and illegal drug diversion. |
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