Harrisburg — A bipartisan bill package that gives healthcare providers and insurers access to patient mental health records will pass the State Senate on Thursday to Governor Tom Wolfe’s desk.
Currently, healthcare providers and insurance companies do not have access to a patient’s mental health records unless the patient signs an exemption. Lawmakers said the new measures would align state law with the current holistic approach to medicine.
According to spokeswoman Beth Rementor, Wolff hasn’t considered the two bills yet, so he didn’t promise to sign either of them.
Lehi County Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, Rep. Mike Schlossberg, said he would draw mental and physical health from separate “silo” and make it easier for doctors to develop comprehensive treatment plans. Stated.
If a patient currently being treated for addiction is taken to an emergency room, doctors will not know that they will potentially not prescribe addiction painkillers, Schlossberg said.
Mental health care providers cite the difficulty of accessing records as a factor in burnout, Schlossberg said.
He hopes that easier access to records will help alleviate the shortage of current healthcare providers in Pennsylvania.
Both bills unanimously passed the House of Representatives. However, in the Senate, there were a small number of “no” votes that were largely linked to concerns about patient confidentiality.
Democratic Chester County Senator John Kane had “serious privacy concerns,” according to spokesman Steve Warhola.
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“Senator Kane has been recovering for 38 years. In that community, we value anonymity the most because of the stigma associated with addiction,” Warhola said. “Under current law, patients already have the opportunity to agree to share their records.”
The Pennsylvania drug and alcohol service provider organization has sent a statement calling on Kane to vote against the bill.
“The legislator says that the patient’s treatment record contains highly sensitive, often painful personal information about the patient and his family, such as family drama, divorce, and trauma to the child. You need to be careful, “said the statement.
Senator Christine Tartarione, a Democrat in Philadelphia, feared that sharing mental health records with doctors and insurance companies could discourage people from seeking treatment for their addiction. I voted against the bill.
Senator’s concern was “good faith but misguided,” Schlossberg said.
“Some of the allegations made against this bill were, frankly, borderline attacks,” Schlossberg said. “This keeps HIPAA consistent. HIPAA also has very robust, properly robust privacy protection.”
Christina Baker is an intern at the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents Association.
