BROOKINGS – A caregiver bill was filed in the South Dakota House of Representatives on Friday. 

If it passes, it means family or friends of someone who has a mental health issue could be notified when they are admitted to, transferred or discharged from a treatment facility, said District 7 Rep. Tim Reed, one of the sponsors of the bill. Other local legislators who sponsored the bill are Rep. Doug Post and Sen. V.J. Smith, also of District 7. 

The bill is designed to give families more peace of mind, said Reed and Craig Pahl, president of the Brookings Empowerment Project, an organization that advocates for people who have mental health issues.

House Bill 1099 is available on the sdlegislature.gov website under legiscan.com/SD/bill/HB1099/2019. Scroll down and click to view a summary or the full text.

What is the situation?

Under the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) of 1996, medical personnel and facilities will not discuss an adult’s medical conditions with anyone, including whether a patient has been admitted or is under a doctor’s care. That means if someone is taken to a mental health facility, their family may not know it’s happened. The family might try repeatedly to reach them and start to panic when they can’t get ahold of them. 

“Today, current practices require a formal power of attorney or similar document to release even this simple type of information to a designated family member or friend,” Pahl said. 

“If you go into a hospital for a physical health reason, you get cards, letters, visitors, etc.,” Pahl said. “If you go into a mental health or treatment facility, you don’t get the same response. 

“We just know that these community connections transcend these crises and are critical to recovery and the return to community,” he said. 

“The caregiver identification bill takes a step toward the Mental Health Care System formally recognizing the value of an individual’s community of caregivers to their treatment and recovery,” Pahl said.

Reed hopes HB1099 will give families and friends more peace of mind.

“The Caregiver Bill helps family members and friends of those that have been admitted to a mental health care facility … stay more involved with their ailing loved one,” Reed said.

South Dakota isn’t alone in considering this legislation.

“There are several states that are looking at caregiver acts in general so it is a topic that is discussed quite often,” Reed said.

What is HB1099?

HB1099, if passed, will require medical personnel to ask a patient if they would like to designate a caregiver. The patient may designate someone – whether family or not – as a caregiver, or they may decline to name someone.

If the patient designates a person as caregiver, that caregiver will be notified of the admittance of the patient, whether they are transferred to another facility or discharged, Reed said.

“When they are discharged, (the caregiver) would be given some discharge information to help with follow-up care,” Reed said.

Some people may be familiar with having a medical power of attorney, but the Caregiver Bill is a little different, Reed said.

Someone with medical power of attorney would have control over the patient’s treatment, making decisions for their care; under HB1099, the caregiver would not be consulted about treatment.

“This is a way of just notifying loved ones,” Reed said. “There are adults that have mental health care issues that are in control of (their own care). All the bill does is allows them to have somebody that was helping to care for them notified as to what’s going on.”

The caregiver can pick the patient up from the facility and they’ll know what future care the patient will need, “help to get them to appointments and make sure they’re taking their medication,” Reed said.

What’s next for HB1099?

Now that HB1099 is filed, the next step is to present it in committee. The website legiscan.com notes it is set to be presented in the House Health and Human Services Committee, which Reed expects to happen in the next week or two. 

Once it’s presented in committee, the bill will face an “up or down vote, whether that will move onto the house floor. Then the whole body of the House of Representatives vote on it,” Reed said. 

If it passes the House, the bill will go to the Senate side, where it will again go through a committee and face an up-and-down vote. If it passes that vote, it will come to the floor of the Senate for another vote.

“If it passes all four of those tests, it’ll go to the governor’s desk,” Reed said.

If Gov. Kristi Noem signs it, it’s law and will take effect July 1, he said.

“At that point, hospitals (and mental health facilities) would have to follow the law,” Reed said.

Let your voice be heard

If you want more information or to express your opinion on this bill, you can contact your legislators through the legislative research council website, http://sdlegislature.gov, click on legislators, then legislator contacts for the contact information. 

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.