Committee hears bill to allow counselors to share behavioral-health disclosures for care coordination

The House Health Care & Wellness Committee on Wednesday opened public hearings on House Bill 1287, which would let certain behavioral health professionals disclose client disclosure-statement acknowledgments and related treatment information to other health-care providers for care coordination.

The bill was introduced in a staff report as a change to current statute that now requires clients to sign written acknowledgments that they received disclosure statements covering treatment choice, the right to refuse treatment and confidentiality obligations. The staff summary said HB 1287 would allow those acknowledgments and related information to be disclosed to the same extent other mental-health information may be shared under the state Uniform Health Care Information Act (chapter 70.02 RCW).

Prime sponsor Alicia Rule, who said she is a mental-health professional, told the committee the bill is a practical step to ease coordination between counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists and certified counselors. "The reality of mental health professionals is that they are slammed," Rule said, adding that the bill would make it easier "for one mental health professional to talk to another mental health professional in order to get the job done and really wrap around and help the folks that need us." The sponsor said the bill has no fiscal impact.

Supporters including the Health Care Authority and community providers said the bill removes an unnecessary statutory barrier that prevents counselors from sharing information in transitions of care. Sean O'Neil, testifying in support, said the change would allow those professions "to share a client's health information with other health care providers treating the same patient" and noted that disclosures would remain protected under HIPAA and the state's Uniform Health Care Information Act.

Community behavioral health leaders said requiring written consent when a patient is transferred from hospital to community care has been a barrier to continuity of care for people with serious mental illness or substance-use disorders. Wendy Sisk, CEO of Peninsula Behavioral Health, said written consent requirements have been "a significant barrier to providing care for this really vulnerable population" and that the bill would treat counselors "like other health care providers."

A law-enforcement perspective surfaced in public testimony. Teddy Chow, who identified himself as a prosecutor for Okanogan County speaking not in official capacity, said the change could allow earlier sharing of information "prior to full decompensation," which he said could "increase public safety because officers would be less likely to shoot these people." The committee did not take action Wednesday; staff closed public testimony and moved to the next bill on the agenda.

House Bill 1287 applies to mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers and certified counselors and was described as an agency-request bill from the Health Care Authority.

The committee record includes staff explanations, sponsor remarks and multiple public witnesses in support; no formal vote or amendment was recorded during the hearing.