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S 1585

Removes constitutional provision that the lieutenant-governor shall act as governor when the governor is absent from the state

2025 Regular Session Introduced by George Borrello and 1 co-sponsor

Expands a health care proxy's access to a deceased principal's medical records for up to six months after death, unless a personal representative is appointed.

OPINION REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
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Bill Summary · S 1585

Summary — S.1585 (An Act expanding healthcare proxy access to medical records)

Status: Opinion referred to Judiciary; read twice and referred to Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (05/01/2025). Hearing scheduled 07/10/2025.
Primary sponsor (in text): Sen. Mark C. Montigny.

Note on metadata: the provided bill text and title indicate this is a Massachusetts state bill expanding health care proxy access to medical records (amendments to chapter 201D). Some other supplied metadata (alternate bill title about lieutenant governor, lists of U.S. senators as sponsors, and timeline entries) appear inconsistent with the bill text. The summary below follows the bill text as filed (S.1585 / “An Act expanding healthcare proxy access to medical records”).

Purpose
- To expand the authority of an agent acting under a health care proxy to access the principal’s medical records, including confidential information, for a limited period after the principal’s death, and to clarify when a health care proxy begins and when it is revoked.

Key provisions (amendments to Mass. Gen. Laws chapter 201D)
1. Agent access after death (Section 1)
- Adds a sentence to §5 granting an agent authority to access the principal’s confidential medical records for up to six months after the principal’s death, unless a personal representative represents the decedent’s estate.
- Explicitly states the agent’s right to receive “any and all medical information, including any and all confidential medical information that the principal would be entitled to receive,” for the same six‑month period unless a personal representative represents the estate.

  1. When proxy authority begins (Section 2)

    • Amends §6 by inserting language so that the agent’s authority may begin “either upon the death of the principal or” — i.e., clarifies that a proxy’s authority can be triggered upon death as well as other triggering events already defined in law.

  2. Revocation rules (Section 3)

    • Revises §7 to specify revocation of a health care proxy occurs upon: (i) execution of a subsequent health care proxy by the principal; (ii) divorce or legal separation if the agent is the principal’s spouse; (iii) expiration six months after the principal’s death; (iv) appointment or assumption of representation of the principal’s estate by a personal representative.

  3. Personal representative recognized (Section 4)

    • Amends §17 to add the personal representative of the principal’s estate alongside the principal where relevant (clarifying that personal representatives have standing under the statute).

Who would be affected
- Principals (patients) who execute health care proxies and their estates.
- Agents named in health care proxies (authority extended after death for a limited period).
- Personal representatives/executors (gains explicit statutory recognition and can supersede agent access once appointed).
- Health care providers, hospitals, and medical records custodians (obligations to release confidential records to agents for up to six months post‑death unless a personal representative is in place).
- Attorneys and estate administrators handling post‑mortem medical record access disputes.

Potential impacts and considerations
- Improves agents’ ability to retrieve medical records needed for care continuity, claims, investigations, or to understand circumstances of death.
- Raises privacy and confidentiality considerations for decedents’ medical information; creates potential conflicts between agents and personal representatives that may require dispute resolution.
- Imposes operational requirements on providers to verify agent authority and distinguish between agent and personal representative claims.
- Six‑month post‑death cap and the clause allowing a personal representative to supersede agent access are designed to balance access with estate administration and privacy protections.

Procedural/timeline notes
- Filed as Senate Docket No. 1488; hearing set for 07/10/2025. The bill has been referred for legal opinion and to relevant committees. Some provided chronological metadata appears inconsistent; consult the official Massachusetts Legislature website for the authoritative status and docket history.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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