PRINTER'S NO. 2056
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1725
Session of
2023
INTRODUCED BY BOROWICZ, LEADBETER, BERNSTINE, PICKETT,
M. MACKENZIE, WARNER, KAUFFMAN, HAMM, STAATS, SCIALABBA,
MOUL, FINK, KEEFER, ZIMMERMAN AND JOZWIAK, SEPTEMBER 27, 2023
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, SEPTEMBER 27, 2023
AN ACT
Amending the act of February 13, 1970 (P.L.19, No.10), entitled
"An act enabling certain minors to consent to medical, dental
and health services, declaring consent unnecessary under
certain circumstances," further providing for individual
consent, for mental health treatment and for release of
medical records; and providing for parent or legal guardian
access to medical records.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Sections 1, 1.1(a) and 1.2(d) of the act of
February 13, 1970 (P.L.19, No.10), entitled "An act enabling
certain minors to consent to medical, dental and health
services, declaring consent unnecessary under certain
circumstances," are amended to read:
Section 1. Individual Consent.--Any minor who is eighteen
years of age or older[, or has graduated from high school, or
has married, or has been pregnant,] may give effective consent
to medical, dental and health services for himself or herself,
and the consent of no other person shall be necessary.
Section 1.1. Mental Health Treatment.--(a) The following
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shall apply to consent for voluntary inpatient and outpatient
mental health treatment:
(1) A parent or legal guardian of a minor less than eighteen
years of age may consent to voluntary inpatient mental health
treatment under Article II of the act of July 9, 1976 (P.L.817,
No.143), known as the "Mental Health Procedures Act," if
inpatient mental health treatment is determined to be necessary
by a physician, licensed clinical psychologist or other mental
health professional or outpatient mental health treatment on
behalf of the minor, and the minor's consent shall not be
necessary. An initial determination that inpatient mental health
treatment of a minor is necessary under this paragraph shall be
independent of the requirements of section 205 of the "Mental
Health Procedures Act."
(2) A minor who is [fourteen] eighteen years of age or older
may consent on the minor's own behalf to voluntary inpatient
mental health treatment as provided under Article II of the
"Mental Health Procedures Act" or outpatient mental health
treatment, and the minor's parent's or legal guardian's consent
shall not be necessary.
(3) A minor or another parent or legal guardian may not
abrogate consent provided by a parent or legal guardian on the
minor's behalf to voluntary inpatient or outpatient mental
health treatment under paragraph (1), nor may a parent or legal
guardian abrogate consent given by the minor on the minor's own
behalf to voluntary inpatient or outpatient mental health
treatment under paragraph (2).
(4) A parent or legal guardian who has provided consent to
voluntary inpatient or outpatient mental health treatment under
paragraph (1) may revoke that consent, which revocation shall be
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effective unless the minor who is [fourteen to] eighteen years
of age or older has provided consent for continued voluntary
inpatient or outpatient mental health treatment.
(5) A minor who is [fourteen to] eighteen years of age or
older who has provided consent to voluntary inpatient or
outpatient mental health treatment may revoke that consent[,
which revocation shall be effective unless the parent or legal
guardian to the minor has provided for continued treatment under
paragraph (1)].
(6) At the time of admission, the director of the admitting
facility or a designee of the director shall provide the minor
with an explanation of the nature of the mental health treatment
in which the minor may be involved together with a statement of
the minor's rights, including the right to object to treatment
by filing a petition with the court. If the minor wishes to
exercise this right at any time, the director of the facility or
a designee of the director shall provide a form for the minor to
provide notice of the request for modification or withdrawal
from treatment. The director of the facility or a designee of
the director shall file the signed petition with the court.
(7) When a petition is filed on behalf of a minor [fourteen
years of age or older and] under eighteen years of age who has
been confined for inpatient treatment on the consent of a parent
or legal guardian and who objects to continued inpatient
treatment by requesting a withdrawal from or modification of
treatment, the court shall promptly appoint an attorney for the
minor and schedule a hearing to be held within seventy-two hours
following the filing of the petition, unless continued upon the
request of the attorney for the minor, by a judge or mental
health review officer who shall determine whether or not the
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voluntary mental health treatment is in the best interest of the
minor. For inpatient treatment to continue against the minor's
wishes, the court must find all of the following by clear and
convincing evidence:
(i) that the minor has a diagnosed mental disorder;
(ii) that the disorder is treatable;
(iii) that the disorder can be treated in the particular
facility where the treatment is taking place; and
(iv) that the proposed inpatient treatment setting
represents the least restrictive alternative that is medically
appropriate.
(8) A minor ordered to undergo treatment due to a
determination under paragraph (7) shall remain and receive
inpatient treatment at the treatment setting designated by the
court for a period of up to twenty days. The minor shall be
discharged whenever the attending physician determines that the
minor no longer is in need of treatment, consent to treatment
has been revoked under paragraph (4) or at the end of the time
period of the order, whichever occurs first. If the attending
physician determines continued inpatient treatment will be
necessary at the end of the time period of the order and the
minor does not consent to continued inpatient treatment prior to
the end of the time period of the order, the court shall conduct
a review hearing in accordance with this subsection to determine
whether to:
(i) release the minor; or
(ii) make a subsequent order for inpatient mental health
treatment for a period not to exceed sixty days subject to
discharge of the minor whenever the attending physician
determines that the minor no longer is in need of treatment, or
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if consent has been revoked under paragraph (4).
(9) The procedure for a sixty-day period of treatment under
paragraph (8)(ii) shall be repeated until the court determines
to release the minor or the minor is discharged in accordance
with paragraph (8).
(10) Nothing in this subsection shall prevent a
nonconsenting parent who has legal custody rights of a minor
child to object to the consent given by the other parent to
inpatient treatment under paragraph (1) by filing a petition in
a court of common pleas in the county where the minor resides.
The court shall hold a hearing on the objection within seventy-
two hours of the filing of the petition.
* * *
Section 1.2. Release of Medical Records.--* * *
(d) Except to the extent provided under subsection (a), (b)
or (c) or section 1.3, the minor shall control the release of
the minor's mental health treatment records and information to
the extent allowed by law. When a minor has provided consent to
outpatient mental health treatment under section 1.1, subject to
subsection (a)(2), the minor shall control the records of
treatment to the same extent as the minor would control the
records of inpatient care or involuntary outpatient care under
the act of July 9, 1976 (P.L.817, No.143), known as the "Mental
Health Procedures Act," and its regulations.
* * *
Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 1.3. Parent or Legal Guardian Access to Medical
Records.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a parent
or legal guardian of a minor under eighteen years of age shall
have full access to the minor's medical, dental or health
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services or mental health treatment records.
Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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