Freedom From Restraint Act of 1999

openUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

25 March 1999

Last action

26 October 1999 · Committee

Status

Committee on Finance. Hearings held.

Summary

Freedom from Restraint Act of 1999 - Amends part D (Miscellaneous) of title XVIII (Medicare) and title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to specify program beneficiaries' rights to freedom from restraint and other abuse while in a psychiatric hospital or other care facility or treatment center. Requires a service provider to report sentinel events (when a program beneficiary under psychiatric care dies unexpectedly or suffers serious injury unrelated to his or her illness or underlying condition) to appropriate agencies or entities with oversight authority. Allows the imposition of restraints: (1) only to ensure physical safety of the individual or others in the provider's care; and (2) only upon the written order of a physician specifying the duration and circumstances under which restraints are to be used (except in emergency circumstances specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services until such an order could reasonably be obtained). Requires the service provider to investigate the sentinel event reported and the appropriate agencies or entities to review and approve the provider's root cause analysis before reporting on the matter to the Secretary for use in the Sentinel Events Database. Directs the Secretary to establish such Database for use on the Internet, with appropriate privacy safeguards for individuals whose treatment is the subject of a report under this Act. Requires additional reporting in certain cases, including: (1) to the Secretary about a provider identified as having a pattern of poor performance; and (2) to the State Attorney General or the appropriate State law enforcement agency in sentinel events involving death. Mandates sanctions for failure to report. Bars disclosure or discovery of a root cause analysis in a civil action.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

25 March 1999
Introduced
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Source: IntroReferral
25 March 1999
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
Source: IntroReferral
26 October 1999
Committee
Committee on Finance. Hearings held.
Source: Committee

Votes

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Versions

Introduced in Senate · 25 March 1999 · Download file

Documents

3 official files

Introduced in Senate (text)

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Introduced in Senate (text)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 25 March 1999
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Introduced in Senate (PDF)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 25 March 1999
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Introduced in Senate
summary · EN · 25 March 1999
Open at official source
Leesvertaling
Vertaal dit document naar jouw taal. PoliticalRepo bewaart geen aparte kopie per EU-taal.
Vertaal naar
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Related records

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Sources

PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.

Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/106th-congress/senate-bill/736
Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/106/s/736
us · 106-s-736 · source updated 10 February 2026