The Washington Post (1/15, Nutt) reports in “Health & Science” that mental health advocates “are divided over whether” gun control “proposals to ease the sharing of information with the FBI’s background-check system breach patient rights.” Two proposals in particular are causing concerns. The first “involves a new rule from the Department of Health and Human Services that makes it clear that health agencies and medical facilities can report the names of certain people without violating privacy laws.” The second is a White House push “to get the Social Security Administration to share with the FBI the names of mentally ill beneficiaries who do not manage their own affairs.” Some advocates claim such measures would “unfairly target” people with mental illnesses.
Related Links:
— “Are the mentally ill being unfairly targeted by the FBI’s gun list?,” Amy Ellis Nutt, Washington Post, January 14, 2016.