WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and co-author of the bipartisan Mental Health Reform Act, on Sunday praised the bipartisan agreement to pass mental health reform and new funding to combat the opioid epidemic during the lame duck session of Congress. The negotiated bill, released by House Republicans, combines important health-related measures waiting for congressional action – mental health reform, emergency funding to address the opioid and heroin crisis, and increased investments in medical research. Last week, Murphy called on Congress to pass “bipartisan mental health [reform] and new funding for treatment and recovery programs this year before the holidays.”

“Nearly everyone I talk to knows someone who had been victimized by our nation's broken mental health system or our country's heroin epidemic. I'm excited Republicans and Democrats have put politics aside and reached a compromise that will allow a mental health reform bill to pass side by side with major new funding to confront the nation's opioid crisis. Both parties needed to make concessions to get this deal done, but the deal that has been struck is good for patients and families. I hope we get it done and on the President's desk as soon as possible."  

Murphy is co-author of the bipartisan Mental Health Reform Act, which will expand federal resources and improve coordination for mental health and substance abuse treatment programs. Murphy also supported the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) signed into law this year, and has been a leader in calling for additional resources for federal programs that treat and prevent opioid use and addiction. Earlier this year, Murphy spent a “Day in the Life” meeting with patients, health professionals, law enforcement, and advocates around Connecticut to learn firsthand how he can improve federal efforts to combat Connecticut’s addiction crisis and save lives. In Connecticut, deaths caused by drug overdoses have skyrocketed. In 2015, 729 Connecticut residents died from drug overdoses, including 415 heroin-related deaths.

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