Relates to people in the custody of the department of corrections and community supervision and a medical authorization form to disclose private medical information

BILL NUMBER:S5428A

Title of bill

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to people in the custody of the department of corrections and community supervision and a medical authorization form to disclose private medical information

Purpose

This bill would require the department of corrections and community supervision (DOCCS) to provide inmates with forms to disclose medical information and mental health treatment information, and to provide persons appointed to receive such disclosures a copy of the authorization form.

Summary of provisions

Section one of the bill requires DOCCS to provide forms to disclose medical information and mental health treatment information to inmates upon their arrival at a reception facility and each transfer to a new facility so that inmates may opt to appoint a family member or other person to receive such information.

Section two of the bill requires DOCCS to provide copies of such disclosure forms to the person designated by an inmate. DOCCS shall provide such person protected health information as governed by HIPAA or as governed by mental hygiene law.

Section three of the bill is the effective date.

Justification

There are more than 8,000 men and women under state custody who receive treatment for mental illness, and there are approximately 10,000 inmates under the age of 25, some of whom have significant medical conditions for which they received treatment prior to their commitment to a state correctional facility. Parents, as well as spouses, often find it very difficult to communicate with the Department about the mental health or medical condition of their loved ones. Disclosure forms signed by inmates may have expired, may never have been signed, may have been difficult to obtain, or may not have travelled with the inmate as intended to the medical facility or mental health unit in which an inmate has been placed. Without signed release forms, DOCCS and OMH will not give any medical or mental health information to an inmate's family. This difficulty in communicating with DOCCS becomes particularly crucial when inmates are in medical units, outside hospitals, or have attempted suicide. During these times the family may wish to obtain information from DOCCS or OMH and may also provide valuable information that may help with the Department's effort to treat the inmate appropriately. At a time of crisis it is often too late for the Department, the inmate and the family, guardian or person closest to the inmate to execute a disclosure form that would allow the Department to communicate with the family about the status of the inmate. This bill would resolve the issue by requiring the Department to provide disclosure forms as a matter of routine to all inmates upon arrival at a reception facility

and upon transfer to new facilities throughout their incarceration, as well as providing a copy to the person authorized by the inmate to receive information. The disclosure forms may be declined, edited or revoked at any time by the inmate.

Legislative history

New Bill

Fiscal implications

Negligible cost to the state.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rules or regulations necessary for the implementation of the foregoing section of this act on its effective date is authorized to be made on or before such effective date.