SB1243 - Access to Basic Mental Health Information Act

• Creates the Access to Basic Mental Health Information Act allowing specified family members (parents, adult siblings, adult children, spouses, and adult grandchildren) to obtain mental health information about a recipient in a mental health facility if they declare involvement in the recipient's care or payment.

• Information may be shared if the recipient expressly agrees, does not object when given the opportunity, is unconscious or lacks capacity and a physician determines disclosure is in their best interest, or if a physician infers the recipient intends to share the information.

• Mental health facilities must receive relevant information from family and friends regarding past hospitalizations, medications, behaviors, and other information relevant to treatment, though information provided under confidentiality may be withheld if disclosure would reveal its source.

• Information obtained under this Act cannot be used in legal proceedings or for personal advantage except to prove involuntary admission or establish guardianship eligibility.

• Mental health facilities and employees are not liable for information releases unless made deliberately or constituting gross negligence; the Act supersedes conflicting provisions in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code.