APPROVED CHAPTER
JUNE 10, 2025 255
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE
_____
H.P. 1304 - L.D. 1945
An Act to Clarify Data Collection Processes in Health Care Facilities
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §265, first ¶, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 129, §1, is amended to
read:
Beginning October 1, 2026, a health care facility, other than a pharmacy licensed
pursuant to Title 32, chapter 117, shall ensure that data related to sexual orientation and
gender identity is collected from an individual as part of the health care information
collected upon intake at a health care facility and at any other time who is 19 years of age
or older when demographic information is collected, unless the individual declines to
answer questions regarding the individual's sexual orientation or gender identity. This data
is part of the individual's electronic health record. For the purposes of this section, "health
care facility" has the same meaning as in section 1711‑C, subsection 1, paragraph D, "health
care information" has the same meaning as in section 1711‑C, subsection 1, paragraph E
and "individual" has the same meaning as in section 1711‑C, subsection 1, paragraph G,
except that in this section it is limited to an individual who is 19 years of age or older. Data
collected pursuant to this section is health care information that is subject to the
confidentiality requirements of section 1711‑C. The sexual orientation and gender identity
data required to be collected pursuant to this section is the same as the sexual and gender
identity data elements added by the federal Department of Health and Human Services,
Health Resources and Services Administration to the uniform data system administered by
the Health Resources and Services Administration in 2016 or included in any subsequent
standards.
Page 1 - 132LR2226(03)


Statutes affected:
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 255: 22.265