Revision 09-4; Effective December 1, 2009
Only an applicant's/recipient's personal representative can exercise the applicant's/recipient's rights with respect to individually identifiable health information. Therefore, only a applicant's/recipient's personal representative may authorize the use or disclosure of individually identifiable health information or obtain individually identifiable health information on behalf of an applicant/recipient. Exception: HHSC is not required to disclose the information to the personal representative if the applicant/recipient is subjected to domestic violence, abuse or neglect by the personal representative. Consult the regional attorney if you believe that health information should not be released to the personal representative.
Note: A responsible party is not automatically a personal representative.