{
  "id": "R43040",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R43040",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 428351,
      "date": "2014-02-20",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T20:38:38.608591",
      "title": "Submission of Mental Health Records to NICS and the HIPAA Privacy Rule",
      "summary": "Questions about the scope and efficacy of the background checks required during certain firearm purchases have gained prominence following recent mass shootings. These background checks are intended to identify whether potential purchasers are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms due to one or more \u201cprohibiting factors,\u201d such as a prior felony conviction or a prior involuntary commitment for mental health reasons. Operationally, such background checks primarily use information contained within the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and a particular focus of the debate in Congress has been whether federal privacy standards promulgated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (i.e., the HIPAA Privacy Rule) or state privacy laws are an obstacle to the submission of mental health records to NICS.\nUnder the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), as amended, persons adjudicated to be mentally defective or who have been committed to a mental institution are prohibited from possessing, shipping, transporting, and receiving firearms and ammunition. Neither a diagnosis of a mental illness nor treatment for a mental illness is sufficient to qualify a person as \u201cadjudicated as a mental defective.\u201d Rather, an individual\u2019s \u201cadjudication as a mental defective\u201d relies upon a determination or decision by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority. The definition of \u201ccommitted to a mental institution\u201d may apply only to inpatient settings. At least one federal court has held that the Supreme Court\u2019s recent recognition of an individual right to possess a firearm suggests that some emergency hospitalization or commitment procedures, that may not have as many procedural safeguards as formal commitment, should not be included within the meaning of \u201cinvoluntary commitment\u201d for purposes of the GCA. In 2007, Congress passed the NICS Improvement Amendments Act (NIAA), which authorizes the Attorney General to make additional grants to states to improve electronic access to records as well as to incentivize states to turn over records of persons who would be prohibited from possessing or receiving firearms.\nIn 2012, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that a variety of technological, coordination, and legal (i.e., privacy) challenges limit the states\u2019 ability to report mental health records to NICS. The HIPAA Privacy Rule, which applies to most health care providers, regulates the use or disclosure of protected health information, and it has been perceived as a potential obstacle to sharing information with NICS, especially in states that do not expressly require disclosure of such records to NICS. Moreover, courts and health care providers that generate such prohibiting mental health records may also be subject to state health privacy laws that may be more restrictive than the HIPAA Privacy Rule.\nIn February 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced its intention to amend the HIPAA Privacy Rule to remove any potential impediments to state reporting of some mental health records to NICS, and on January 7, 2014, HHS issued its proposed rule that would modify the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The Department of Justice (DOJ) also issued a proposed rule that would clarify the terms \u201cadjudicated as a mental defective\u201d and \u201ccommitted to a mental institution.\u201d",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": true,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43040",
          "sha1": "2e765f523f0615e767c702473e0218d66ed9aa06",
          "filename": "files/20140220_R43040_2e765f523f0615e767c702473e0218d66ed9aa06.html",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43040",
          "sha1": "a7fbef84ec0b2b25940c9601212865d8616f22a9",
          "filename": "files/20140220_R43040_a7fbef84ec0b2b25940c9601212865d8616f22a9.pdf",
          "images": null
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 2170,
          "name": "Government Information: Transparency, Protection, and Access"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4392,
          "name": "Regulation of Firearms"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc810700/",
      "id": "R43040_2013Apr15",
      "date": "2013-04-15",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "Submission of Mental Health Records to NICS and the HIPAA Privacy Rule",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20130415_R43040_4423bd3a8c1edee5e06528e851a5cfc77e8fdd9c.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20130415_R43040_4423bd3a8c1edee5e06528e851a5cfc77e8fdd9c.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Health Policy"
  ]
}