CA AB 2352

Title: Mental health and psychiatric advance directives.
Author: Jacqui V. Irwin

Summary
AB 2352, as amended, Irwin. Mental health and psychiatric advance directives. (1) Existing law establishes the requirements for executing a written advance health care directive that is legally sufficient to direct health care decisions. Existing law provides a form that an individual may use or modify to create an advance health care directive. Under existing law, a written advance health care directive is legally sufficient if specified requirements are satisfied, may be revoked by a patient having capacity at any time, and is revoked to the extent of a conflict with a later executed directive. Existing law requires a supervising health care provider who knows of the existence of an advance health care directive or its revocation to record that fact in the patient’s health record. Existing law sets forth requirements of witnesses to a written advance health care directive. A written advance health care directive or similar instrument executed in another jurisdiction is valid and enforceable in this state under existing law. A person who intentionally falsifies, forges, conceals, defaces, or obliterates an individual’s advance health care directive or its revocation without the individual’s consent is subject to liability of up to $10,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney’s fees.Existing law authorizes an appeal of specified orders relating to an advance health care directive. Existing law generally prohibits involuntary civil placement of a ward, conservatee, or person with capacity in a mental health treatment facility, subject to a valid and effective advance health care directive. Existing law prohibits specified entities, including a provider, health care service plan, or insurer, from requiring or prohibiting the execution or revocation of an advance health care directive as a condition for providing health care, admission to a facility, or furnishing insurance. Existing law requires the Secretary of State to establish a registry system for written advance health care directives, but failure to register does not affect the directive’s validity and registration does not affect a registrant’s ability to revoke the directive.Under existing law, an advance psychiatric directive is a legal document, executed on a voluntary basis by a person who has the capacity to make medical decisions and in accordance with the requirements for an advance health care directive, that allows a person with mental illness to protect their autonomy and ability to direct their own care by documenting their preferences for treatment in advance of a mental health crisis. An individual may execute both an advance health care directive and a voluntary standalone psychiatric advance directive.This bill would extend the above-described advance health care directive provisions to psychiatric advance directives and would make conforming changes. The bill would specify that a psychiatric advance directive is a legal written or digital document, executed as specified, that allows a person with behavioral health illness to document their preferences for treatment and identify a health care advocate in advance of a behavioral health crisis. Under the bill, a written or digital psychiatric advance directive may include the individual’s nomination of a health care advocate who is in agreement to uphold the person’s preferences for treatment in the case of a behavioral health crisis. If the health care advocate is informed of the directive’s revocation, the bill would require them to promptly communicate that fact to the supervising health care provider and any health care institution where the patient is receiving care. The bill would specify that a psychiatric advance directive is legally sufficient if it contains the date of its execution and is signed by the individual, their health care advocate or another adult in the individual’s presence and at the individual’s direction, and one additional, unrelated witness.(2) Existin

Status
Read second time and amended.

Bill Documents
CA AB 2352 - 04/25/24 - Amended Assembly
04/25/24 - CA AB 2352 (04/25/24 - Amended Assembly)