Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H2210 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2431 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2210
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Kenneth I. Gordon
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 :DATE ADDED:Kenneth I. Gordon21st Middlesex1/16/2025 1 of 2
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2431 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2210
18	18	By Representative Gordon of Bedford, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2210) of
19	19	Kenneth I. Gordon relative to inpatient mental health care treatment. Mental Health, Substance
20	20	Use and Recovery.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
24	24	(2025-2026)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act to provide more timely treatment of inpatient mental health care.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1. Section 2 of chapter 123 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
30	30	2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 12, the word “and”.
31	31	3 SECTION 2. Said section 2 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby further
32	32	4amended by inserting after the word “facilities”, in lines 13 to 14, the following words:- , and (4)
33	33	5shall be developed in a manner consistent with available physician resources and in accordance
34	34	6with national standards for providing evening and night coverage for hospitals.
35	35	7 SECTION 3. Section 5 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
36	36	8inserting after the fourth sentence the following sentence:- Such independent medical
37	37	9examination, if requested by the indigent person or his counsel, shall be requested not more than
38	38	1024 hours after the appointment of counsel and shall be completed within 3 business days after
39	39	11such request for the independent medical examination. 2 of 2
40	40	12 SECTION 4. Said section 5 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby further
41	41	13amended by striking out, in line 15, the words “unless counsel requests a delay”.
42	42	14 SECTION 5. Section 7 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
43	43	15striking out, in lines 24 and 25, the words “, unless a delay is requested by the person or his
44	44	16counsel”.
45	45	17 SECTION 6. Said section 7 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby further
46	46	18amended by striking out, in lines 26 to 27, the words “, unless a delay is requested by the person
47	47	19or his counsel”.
48	48	20 SECTION 7. Section 8B of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
49	49	21striking out, in line 21, the figure “fourteen” and inserting in place thereof the figure:- “5”.
50	50	22 SECTION 8. Subsection (d) of section 5-308 of chapter 190B of the General Laws, as
51	51	23appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “as
52	52	24expeditiously as possible”, in line 55, the following words:- ; provided however, for patients in
53	53	25inpatient mental health facilities, said hearing shall be conducted within 7 days of the filing of
54	54	26the petition and the notice required under subsection (c) of this section shall be adjusted
55	55	27accordingly.
56	56	28 SECTION 9. Notwithstanding any general or special law, regulation or procedure to the
57	57	29contrary, the department of children and families, in conjunction with the office of the child
58	58	30advocate, shall develop a facilitated process and time frame for the administration of
59	59	31antipsychotic medication for children in their custody who are hospitalized in inpatient
60	60	32psychiatric facilities.