HB 1139 Louisiana House · 2026 Regular Session

MENTAL HEALTH: Requires certain behavioral health services for patients receiving treatment pursuant to an emergency certificate

This bill requires healthcare facilities in Louisiana to provide specific behavioral health services to patients admitted under emergency certificates. Upon admission, facilities must conduct a behavioral health evaluation within 72 hours and contact the patient's primary healthcare provider to review treatment history. At discharge, staff must notify healthcare professionals about the patient's release, provide a medical summary to follow-up providers, distribute educational materials about warning signs and privacy rights, and ensure patients receive at least a 14-day medication supply. The law also mandates that the Louisiana Department of Health create and publish these educational documents for patients and their families.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2026
Committee Review
May 2026
House Passage
Apr 2026
Senate Passage
May 2026
Signed into Law
Jun 2026
Introduced Mar 31, 2026 Signed Jun 9, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB1139 Original HB1139 Act 878 · 3 edits
MINOR
This bill updates the legal citation for the act and reorganizes the text of R.S. 28:53.1 to improve clarity. It maintains the core requirement for healthcare facilities to provide specific behavioral health services, such as evaluations, provider notifications, and discharge education, to patients admitted under emergency certificates.
Scope change
The scope of the bill remains unchanged; it continues to apply to healthcare facilities admitting patients under emergency certificates for inpatient behavioral healthcare services.
TECHNICAL

Updated the statutory language to change 'enacted' to 'amended and reenacted' and restructured the section headers and subsections for better readability.

Reorganized the admission requirements from a numbered list to lettered subsections (A, B, C) and renumbered the discharge requirements to align with the new structure.

Removed the 'Digest' section, which is a legislative summary and not part of the final law, and replaced it with signatures from the Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, and the Governor.

Floor votes · Senate May 26, 2026 · House Apr 22, 2026

How they voted

390
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 40
May 26, 2026
D Democratic12
11 Yea 1
91% Yea
R Republican28
28 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
18
Key actions
4
Committee
4
May 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Rules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 38 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
upper
May 21, 2026
Committee
Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
upper
May 20, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported favorably.
upper
Apr 22, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 97, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
lower
Apr 15, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported with amendments (9-0).
lower
Apr 1, 2026
Committee
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Health and Welfare.
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Adrian Fisher
Adrian Fisher
DDemocratic
LA
16