Submission Of Mental Health Records To NICS & The HIPAA Privacy Rule

This report was released by the Congressional Research Service on April 15, 2013. It discusses how the privacy standards of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) have limited what health care professionals could legally disclose to firearms background check systems about their concerns about the mental status of patients, even in cases where the health care professional had concerns about a patient’s danger to self or others. According to a 2012 Government Accountability Office report, 17 states had submitted fewer than 10 records of individuals prohibited for mental health reasons . . .