[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6712 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6712

 To require the disclosure to parents of information regarding mental 
       illness treatment for their children under the age of 26.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 27, 2012

Ms. Richardson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the disclosure to parents of information regarding mental 
       illness treatment for their children under the age of 26.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Elgin Stafford Mental Illness 
Information Disclosure Act of 2012'' or ``Elgin's Law''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Mental illness is the leading cause of disability, as 
        reflected in lost years of productive life, in North America, 
        in Europe, and, increasingly, in the world. By 2020, major 
        depressive illness will be the leading cause of disability in 
        the world for women and children.
            (2) Mental illnesses strike individuals in the prime of 
        their lives, often during adolescence and young adulthood. All 
        ages are susceptible, but the young and the old are especially 
        vulnerable.
            (3) Without treatment, the consequences of mental illness 
        for the individual and society are staggering, including 
        unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, 
        homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, suicide, wasted 
        lives, and an economic cost of more than $100 billion each year 
        in the United States.
            (4) The best treatments for serious mental illnesses today 
        are highly effective so that between 70 and 90 percent of 
        individuals with serious mental illness have significant 
        reduction of symptoms and improved quality of life with a 
        combination of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments and 
        supports.
            (5) Since early identification and treatment is of vital 
        importance in treating mental illness, especially for children 
        and young adults, the active, knowledgeable, and sympathetic 
        involvement of parents and legal guardians is to be encouraged 
        to the maximum extent practicable, consistent with generally 
        accepted and established clinical practice.

SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE TO PARENTS AND LEGAL GUARDIANS OF MENTAL ILLNESS 
              TREATMENT OF CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 26.

    (a) In General.--In the case of a covered individual (as defined in 
subsection (e)(1)) who is being treated for mental illness by a health 
care professional, subject to subsection (b), the health care 
professional shall disclose to a parent (if any) of the individual such 
information regarding the mental illness and treatment for mental 
illness as may be useful for the appropriate involvement of the parent 
with respect to the treatment.
    (b) Exceptions.--Subsection (a) shall not apply in such exceptional 
circumstances as the Secretary may provide by regulation where the 
involvement of the parent would be counter-productive to the treatment 
involved.
    (c) Application of HIPAA Privacy Regulations.--For purposes of 
applying the HIPAA privacy regulations, the disclosure of information 
under this section shall be treated as a permissible disclosure not 
requiring the consent of the covered individual involved.
    (d) Publication and Notice on Department Websites.--The Secretary 
shall post information on the requirements of this section on such 
websites of the Department of Health and Human Services as may be 
appropriate to inform the public and health care professionals.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Covered individual.--The term ``covered individual'' 
        means an individual who--
                    (A) is--
                            (i) a minor child;
                            (ii) an uninsured adult under the age of 
                        26; or
                            (iii) an adult under the age of 26 who is 
                        covered as a dependent under the health 
                        benefits coverage of a parent; and
                    (B) is being treated for mental illness by a health 
                care professional.
            (2) Health benefits coverage.--The term ``health benefits 
        coverage'' has the meaning given the term ``minimum essential 
        coverage'' in section 5000A(f)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code 
        of 1986.
            (3) HIPAA privacy regulations.--The term ``HIPAA privacy 
        regulations'' has the meaning given the term ``HIPAA privacy 
        regulation'' in section 1180(b)(3) of the Social Security Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 1320d-9(b)(3)).
            (4) Mental illness.--The term ``mental illness'' means a 
        chronic illness such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective 
        disorder, bipolar disorder, and major clinical depression, and 
        such term includes other conditions contained in the Diagnostic 
        and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV published by the 
        American Psychiatric Association (or any successor publication 
        by such Association).
            (5) Parent.--The term ``parent'' includes a legal guardian.
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services.
            (7) Uninsured.--An individual shall be treated as uninsured 
        if the individual is not covered under any health benefits 
        coverage.
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