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Read. Follow. Verify.Pennsylvania House Bill 83 raises age for minor mental health treatment consent from 14 to 16
Last action · January 14, 2025: Referred to HEALTH, Jan. 14, 2025Sponsors: Barb Gleim and 17 others
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What This Bill Would Do
Pennsylvania House Bill 83 raises the age at which a minor may independently consent to voluntary inpatient or outpatient mental health treatment from 14 to 16 years old. The measure also establishes provider liability when services are rendered without required parental consent and excludes minors with special needs from the act's provisions.
Changes parental authority and minor autonomy regarding mental health decisions, shifting the threshold age by two years for teenagers seeking voluntary treatment or objecting to institutional confinement, while explicitly exempting individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Minors aged 14 and 15
Parents and legal guardians
Parents and legal guardians retain decision-making and consent authority for 14- and 15-year-olds regarding voluntary inpatient and outpatient mental health treatment.
Physicians and mental health service providers
Providers face statutory liability if they render mental health treatment to minors under the act without proper consent.
Key Facts
- Raises the age for a minor to independently consent to voluntary inpatient or outpatient mental health treatment from 14 to 16 years old.
- Adjusts the age bracket for revoking or maintaining treatment consent between parents and minors from 14-18 to 16-18 years old.
- Modifies court review and attorney appointment requirements for confined minors objecting to treatment, updating the applicable age threshold from 14 to 16.
- Establishes that physicians or service providers rendering mental health treatment without a parent or legal guardian's consent when required shall be liable for the minor's decisions.
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- Exempts minors who have 'special needs' from the provisions of the act.
- Defines 'special needs' as significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning with limitations in adaptive functioning across specified skill areas with an onset before age 22.
- Provides that the act shall take effect in 60 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
At what age can a minor now independently consent to mental health treatment under the bill?
Does this bill apply to all minors in Pennsylvania?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
1 action- Jan 14, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to HEALTH, Jan. 14, 2025
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 13 more sponsors
Connected Entities
Sources
www.palegis.us
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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