On June 15th, H.R. 2646 (“Murphy Bill”) passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

As the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) points out, this is cause for concern:

Despite recent revisions, H.R. 2646 continues to focus on interventions that isolate and stigmatize people with mental health disabilities. It was not only written without significant participation by people with mental health disabilities but also would exclude people with mental health disabilities from positions of leadership in mental health programs.

• H.R. 2646 would create new administrative burdens for home health care and personal attendant services for people with disabilities.
• H.R. 2646 would subsidize long-term institutionalization of children and young adults.
• H.R. 2646 would not ensure that people with psychiatric disabilities are represented in the programs that it would authorize.
• H.R. 2646 promotes outdated ideas about the capacity of individuals with mental health disabilities—including its apparent promotion of plenary guardianship for individuals with mental health disabilities—and makes no mention of available alternatives to guardianship, such as supported decision-making.
• The draft bill would urge the Department of Health and Human Services to revisit (or “clarify”) its existing HIPAA regulations in a way that could potentially expand access to protected health information without the consent of a person with a mental health disability.

Read the full press release here.