Dive Brief:
- The HHS Office for Civil Rights has issued a proposed rule which would make it easier for states to report to a database of people barred from owning guns for mental health reasons.
- To make such reporting possible, the OCR proposal would soften HIPAA regulations that currently prevent such reporting from happening.
- The federal mental health prohibition currently applies to those who have been involuntarily committed to a mental institution, found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity, or otherwise have been determined by a lawful authority to be a danger to themselves or others.
Dive Insight:
if you object to the beginning of HIPAA to allow for reporting to this database, now's the time to speak up. HHS is publishing the proposed rule in the Federal Register this week, and will then go through a 90 day comment period allowing the public to weigh in. Meanwhile, states are not a lot of reporting. In fact, according to FierceHealthIT, 15 states have submitted fewer than 100 mental health records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.