[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9360-9361]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   HIPAA CHANGES IN THE HELPING FAMILIES IN MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, as part of my 3-year 
investigation into the Nation's mental health system, I have been 
meeting with families and caregivers of those with mental illness. 
Their number one concern is the HIPAA privacy rule. Since its inception 
in 2002, the rule has generated nearly 70,000 complaints.
  Families are locked out from helping in treatment by Federal 
regulations that don't understand the complexity of treating a serious 
mental illness in someone who has other medical problems, like diabetes 
or lung disease or skin problems or other illnesses that require 
treatment. When you have those with the diminished capacity to follow 
through on their own care, should we just let them languish and suffer? 
Should we let their mental illness and poor medical care become what 
some consider to be a slow-motion suicide?
  If a family member has a head injury or a stroke or Alzheimer's 
illness, a doctor would not hesitate to explain the medical concerns to 
a family member. A doctor would do this because the doctor recognizes 
the brain illness can make the individual unable to clearly understand 
the severity of his illness. According to the current HIPAA laws, when 
a child is in severe psychosis, the doctor is unable to tell the 
parents anything.
  We must recognize that severe mental illness like schizophrenia, 
bipolar, and severe depression is brain disease--it is not an attitude. 
It is not something cured by pulling oneself up by

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the bootstraps no more than dementia is cured by a different outlook on 
life or by a motivational poster. We cannot continue to make care the 
most difficult for those who have the most difficulty in caring for 
themselves. This has to change. There is merit to those 70,000 
complaints, and we must address them compassionately.
  The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, H.R. 2646, allows 
the doctor or mental health professional to provide the diagnosis, 
treatment plans, appointment scheduling, and prescriptions for an 
individual with a serious mental illness to a known caregiver. This 
change would apply to those who can benefit from care yet who are 
unable to follow through on their own self-directed care.
  Put yourself in the shoes of a family member. Imagine yourself trying 
to help a parent or a sibling or a child, and a caseworker who doesn't 
even know your family member can't help you because he is bound from 
letting you--a loving and caring parent--help your son or daughter. The 
law puts you behind this heartless barrier where you have to passively 
watch your child wither away. But what parent would not run into a 
burning building or throw himself in front of a car to save his child? 
Yet, with our current HIPAA laws, you have to watch and suffer along 
with your child.
  We have to change this, and H.R. 2646 does make this important 
change. My legislation does not allow for the sharing of psychotherapy 
notes or of personal conversations between a therapist and a patient. 
It is limited to the information that is essential to caring for 
someone with a serious mental illness to make sure he stays in care. 
Let's make it easier. Let's make it more compassionate for those who 
need help the most. I urge my colleagues to please support H.R. 2646 
and to sign on as cosponsors.

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