APA Joins in Push to Advance MH Legislation Through Congress

Leaders of major mental health advocacy organizations including APA joined together on October 1 for a visit to Capitol Hill to stress the need for significant reforms in the U.S. mental health system.

Officials from the National Alliance for Mental Illness and Mental Health America, along with executives from the National Council for Behavioral Health and the Kennedy Forum, joined APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., to urge early action on bipartisan legislation already introduced in both houses of Congress.

They met with members of the House of Representatives concerned with mental health issues and also with several members of the Senate, which was scheduled to hold hearings on mental health legislation at press time.

A number of bills have been proposed, including the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015 (HR 2646), put forth by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), and the Mental Health Reform Act of 2015 (S 1945), introduced by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). Tim Murphy is a psychologist, and Cassidy is a physician.

The leaders pointed out the fragmented approach to identifying and caring for people in the United States with mental illness. They argued that adoption of new legislation would improve federal coordination of mental health resources, expand access to community and inpatient integrated treatment, and enhance mental health services for children and adolescents. The bills would also address psychiatric workforce shortages by fixing barriers to loan repayment for child and adolescent psychiatrists through the National Health Service Corporation. Proposals also address increasing funding for the National Institute of Mental Health.

In a separate but parallel effort, 23 mental health advocacy organizations led by APA addressed the issue in a letter sent to the heads of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, whose responsibilities include mental health.

“The need for comprehensive reform is urgent, and you have the opportunity to improve the lives of tens of millions of Americans, their families, and our communities,” they wrote to committee Chair Fred Upton (R-Mich.), and ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.).

New legislation would tighten up enforcement of parity rules and have the Government Accountability Office investigate compliance of the parity law by health insurance plans, said the letter.

“The Congress and your committee regularly act to ensure that Americans with heart disease, cancer, or any other medical illness have access to care,” wrote the mental health groups. “The same should be true for those with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other serious mental illness.”

Both efforts were aimed at keeping mental health reform on the agenda of members of both bodies by urging them to proceed with the internal committee work necessary to advance legislation forward toward final passage. ■