Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S1246 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1122 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1246
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Cindy F. Friedman
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act to provide more timely treatment of inpatient mental health care.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Cindy F. FriedmanFourth MiddlesexRebecca L. RauschNorfolk, Worcester and Middlesex1/24/2023Sal N. DiDomenicoMiddlesex and Suffolk3/9/2023 1 of 3
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1122 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1246
18	18	By Ms. Friedman, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1246) of Cindy F. Friedman,
19	19	Rebecca L. Rausch and Sal N. DiDomenico for legislation to provide more timely treatment of
20	20	inpatient mental health care. Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery.
21	21	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
22	22	SEE SENATE, NO. 1284 OF 2021-2022.]
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
26	26	(2023-2024)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act to provide more timely treatment of inpatient mental health care.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 SECTION 1. Section 2 of chapter 123 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
32	32	2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 12, the word “and”.
33	33	3 SECTION 2. Said section 2 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby further
34	34	4amended by inserting after the word “facilities”, in lines 13 to 14, the following words:- , and (4)
35	35	5shall be developed in a manner consistent with available physician resources and in accordance
36	36	6with national standards for providing evening and night coverage for hospitals.
37	37	7 SECTION 3. Section 5 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
38	38	8inserting after the third sentence the following sentence:- Such independent medical
39	39	9examination, if requested by the indigent person or his counsel, shall be requested not more than 2 of 3
40	40	1024 hours after the appointment of counsel and shall be completed within 3 business days after
41	41	11such request for the independent medical examination.
42	42	12 SECTION 4. Said section 5 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby further
43	43	13amended by striking out, in line 15, the words “unless counsel requests a delay”.
44	44	14 SECTION 5. Section 7 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
45	45	15striking out, in lines 24 and 25, the words “, unless a delay is requested by the person or his
46	46	16counsel”.
47	47	17 SECTION 6. Said section 7 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby further
48	48	18amended by striking out, in lines 26 to 27, the words “, unless a delay is requested by the person
49	49	19or his counsel”.
50	50	20 SECTION 7. Section 8B of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
51	51	21striking out, in line 21, the figure “fourteen” and inserting in place thereof the figure:- “5”.
52	52	22 SECTION 8. Subsection (d) of section 5-308 of chapter 190B of the General Laws, as
53	53	23appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “as
54	54	24expeditiously as possible”, in line 55, the following words:- ; provided however, for patients in
55	55	25inpatient mental health facilities, said hearing shall be conducted within 7 days of the filing of
56	56	26the petition and the notice required under subsection (c) of this section shall be adjusted
57	57	27accordingly.
58	58	28 SECTION 9. Notwithstanding any general or special law, regulation or procedure to the
59	59	29contrary, the department of children and families, in conjunction with the office of the child
60	60	30advocate, shall develop a facilitated process and time frame for the administration of 3 of 3
61	61	31antipsychotic medication for children in their custody who are hospitalized in inpatient
62	62	32psychiatric facilities.