I am urgently requesting your help following a personally terrifying situation. My 13-year-old daughter suffered a severe health crisis and as her primary caregiver, I was denied access to her medical records. She’s on the path to recovery now, she’s receiving necessary treatment for her condition. But being hindered from viewing her specialists’ information and ensuring her proper medical care continues has created unbearable stress and unnecessary barriers.

In the current system with military dependents, a patient cannot create a patient portal or DS login until 18 years old. At 13, parents lose access to their children's information. Therefore there is a gap from 13 to 17 where NO ONE, parent or child has access. This means, during critical years and necessary periods of adolescent health management, no parent OR teen can access their medical OWN information. In addition, parents are barred from their children’s health information. This restrictive protocol (DHA Policy Memorandum 23-010, October 5, 2023) is not only adding stress to families who are already dealing with potential healthcare concerns, but it is impeding quality of care and parental involvement in their children's healthcare needs. 

This is profoundly concerning when parents are forced to make life-altering decisions for their children without all available information. Moreover, for families like ours with military dependents, this policy could critically jeopardize the welfare of the child.

1 in 10 children in the USA have special healthcare needs. This petition calls for immediate action to change the current policy and allow patients ages 13 to 17 full access to their OWN health records. The current system is simply flawed and is being overlooked and needs correction and attention to this issue for the sake of our armed forces families. 

Stand with us in fixing this flaw in the system. Sign this petition to give parents and/or patients the information they need to make medical decisions.