Missouri minors don’t pay for their own health insurance, but perhaps surprisingly, they can keep certain procedures from their parents.
Missourians under 18 can provide medical consent for themselves in specific circumstances, such as pregnancy, STDs/STIs, and substance abuse treatment. That means parents can’t gain access to records about those treatments without a child’s permission.
That odd provision in Missouri law was highlighted in a recent social media post by Libs of TikTok.
“Missouri based @bjc_healthcare revokes parents’ access to their kid’s medical records when the kid turns 12 because it’s ‘confidential,” the post reads. “Kids must grant written permission in order for parents to view it. Kids can make ‘private medical decisions’ and revoke parents’ access at any time.”
The Dec. 3 post, which has nearly 600,000 views on X alone, singles out BJC HealthCare, but major health systems in Missouri use a 1971 state law (RSMo 431.061) to limit parents’ access to electronic records. Generally, once a form is filled out by both child and parent, then the parents receive full access.
“BJC’s use of ‘MyChart’ is governed by federal and state laws that protect patient privacy, including adolescents’ protected health information,” BJC Health says in a statement to The Heartlander. Other hospital systems in Missouri that have similar practices are Wash U Medicine, Mercy, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Saint Luke’s Health System, and Children’s Mercy (Kansas City).
Still, Missouri hospitals appear to be stretching the law if they’re limiting parental access to all electronic records, since the state law is only intended to keep parents from accessing documents related to pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and substance abuse treatment.
Hospitals could be abusing the law if they intentionally limit electronic access to a minor’s entire record just to comply with the legal requirement to protect the few, sensitive records the minor has a right to keep private.
Federal law gives power to the states to decide a minor’s consent regarding certain medical procedures and treatments. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets a federal floor of privacy protections, but it contains specific provisions that allow state laws to supersede it when they deal with parental rights and minor consent.
Parents’ Bill of Rights proposal
While the longstanding Missouri law granting minors confidentiality for STIs and pregnancy care remains on the books, there is a strong and active political movement to shift the balance of power decisively back to the parents.
Republican state Sen. Rick Brattin from Harrisonville has prefiled a bill that would create a Parents’ Bill of Rights in Missouri.
Senate Bill 948 would allow parents to access and review all health and medical records of the child. Parents would be able to consent in writing to all physical and mental healthcare decisions for their child.
The proposed language would override any existing laws or rules that currently allow health information related to a minor’s care to be withheld from a parent.
The rest of the bill’s goal is to legally declare that parents’ rights to raise their child is a fundamental liberty, meaning the government would have an extremely difficult time interfering with any parental decision.
That would grant parents the exclusive legal authority over nearly every aspect of their child’s life, including the right to direct their child’s education, choosing between public or private schools, and guiding their religious and moral upbringing.
