PATCH bill ensures confidential patient information is kept private
Confidentiality is something we’ve come to expect when we visit a doctor. Whether it’s our weight, test results, or a request for birth control, we don’t expect that information to be shared unless we say so. Without that confidentiality, patients might not feel comfortable communicating openly with their doctors, and may delay or forgo care.
The importance of this confidentiality is even more crucial for those receiving care for sensitive services, like STI testing, HIV treatment, domestic violence counseling, mental health support, or substance abuse treatment.
However, that privacy isn’t always guaranteed. Currently, a summary of payments form may be sent to the primary subscriber when someone on their insurance plan receives care. This form provides essential information like cost of services, but also details the types of services received.
For a young adult, spouse, or minor, knowing that this information can be shared serves as a major barrier to receiving care. For some, the disclosure means they fear accessing birth control or STD testing. For others, that confidentiality is the difference between pursuing and avoiding mental health treatment. And in some cases, individuals may avoid seeking domestic violence treatment if their abuser can find out from the health insurer.
This is why the House passed the Protect Access to Confidential Healthcare (PATCH) bill today. The PATCH bill ensures confidentiality by requiring insurance carriers to ensure confidential information is not shared with anyone other than the insured patient, even when multiple people are on the plan. Under our bill, summary of payments forms are issued to each individual member rather than the primary subscriber.
The bill is intended to keep patient information private and to prevent situations where minors, young adults, victims of domestic abuse and others avoid treatment out of fear that someone else in their household might find out. By requiring insurance companies to provide the summary of payments form directly to members, and to give those individuals the choice in how they receive the information, sensitive procedures and treatments are kept private. It does not change Massachusetts minor consent laws, nor does it change parents’ access to information about their minor child’s healthcare in any way.
In late 2017, the House passed the ACCESS bill. Now signed into law, it guarantees copay-free birth control to all women in Massachusetts. But if a young woman is afraid of asking her doctor about contraception for fear of her parents finding out, then that access is not truly guaranteed to every woman in Massachusetts. The passage of the PATCH bill builds on the ACCESS bill by ensuring women can safely and privately talk to their doctors about receiving contraception and take control of their own bodies.
The bill now heads to conference committee, where the differences between the House and Senate versions will be worked out into a final bill.
Bill Summary: An Act to protect access to confidential healthcare
