WASHINGTON - On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), both members of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, introduced new bipartisan legislation to comprehensively overhaul and strengthen America’s mental health care system. After months of collaborating with mental health professionals, policy experts, consumers, and family members, the pair introduced the Mental Health Reform Act of 2015 to make critical reforms to address a lack of resources, enhance coordination, and develop meaningful solutions to improve outcomes for families dealing with mental illness.
Below is a roundup of coverage and praise of their bill.
ADVOCATES RALLY AROUND THE MENTAL HEALTH REFORM ACT
American Psychiatric Association: “’The nation’s mental health system needs reform and investment, and we applaud Senators Murphy and Cassidy for this comprehensive reform initiative. We will work with legislators on both sides of the aisle to accomplish mental health reform.”
Mental Health America: “Mental Health America applauds the introduction of the Mental Health Reform Act of 2015 by Senators Bill Cassidy and Christopher Murphy. It is another important step toward making comprehensive mental health reform a reality in America…We support both bills’ emphasis on screening and early intervention; community-based systems of care; enhancing the behavioral health workforce; innovation to develop new evidence-based programs; prevention; integration of health and behavioral health care, including measures to facilitate the sharing of health data needed for care integration; enforcement of parity in coverage between health and behavioral health services; and the elevation of behavioral health in the federal government, including increased coordination of services. These are all essential components of a sound care delivery system.”
National Council for Behavioral Health: “Today, Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced the Mental Health Reform Act of 2015, comprehensive legislation to reform the U.S. mental health care system. The legislation reauthorizes a number of programs within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), establishes workforce training and education programs for behavioral health providers, and affirms a commitment to providing evidence-based treatment services throughout federally funded mental health programs.”
Treatment Advocacy Center: “This legislation comes at a time when we can see the consequences of untreated severe mental illness in our jails and emergency rooms, among families desperate for help and in communities that have been shattered by violence. If passed into law these provisions would expand access to treatment through proven outpatient treatment programs, increase insurance coverage and provide guidance to families and providers.”
Sandy Hook Promise: "By addressing the need for better mental health care, Senators Murphy and Cassidy are leading a meaningful effort to help millions of Americans in need of assistance. As an organization that deals with the issue of gun violence every day, we know all too well that though only a small percentage of people with mental illness will go on to hurt themselves or someone else, the damage they can do is enormous. Early identification, intervention and help is needed to prevent gun violence before it happens.”
MENTAL HEALTH REFORM ACT IN THE PRESS
The Hill: “Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced a bipartisan mental health reform bill on Tuesday… The pair of senators say the need for their legislation is that one in five adults, or 44 million people, experience a mental illness per year. Despite those statistics, the senators say the number of available psychiatric beds declined 14 percent in recent years, and families are often prevented by privacy laws from accessing crucial information to help care for family members with mental illness. The bill would change the privacy law, known as HIPAA, and encourage education around existing requirements, with the aim of allowing family members to have more information about their mentally ill loved ones and better care for them. The senators’ legislation would create a new assistant secretary to oversee mental health. It also gives grants to improve integration of physical and mental health services and for early intervention in children who demonstrate risk factors for mental illness. It reforms Medicare and Medicaid to remove rules preventing patients from using physical and mental health services at the same place on the same day.”
POLITICO: “Get ready for a mental health-focused fall. Early next week, Sens. Bill Cassidy and Chris Murphy will introduce mental health care legislation before the Senate HELP Committee…Cassidy's new bill would help make psychiatric, psychological and supportive services available for individuals with mental illness, according to a draft shared with POLITICO. It would also create an Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders within HHS. The new position would be tasked with encouraging medical professionals to specialize in mental health care and promote research in the field. The measure would also require that new assistant secretary to report to Congress within 18 months on how states are using federal funds on mental health programs. The draft legislation.’
National Journal: “Momentum around mental-health reform is building in Congress and gathering bipartisan support as a response to mass violence and the reality that gun control is a nonstarter. On Wednesday, Sens. Bill Cassidy and Chris Murphy introduced a new bill outlining a comprehensive set of reforms of the mental-health system… ‘You should reform the mental-health system because it's broken. You shouldn't reform the mental-health system only because you think it's a response to gun violence. And so I've been a proponent of reforming our mental-health system for a long time,’ Sen. Murphy said in an interview.”
Modern Healthcare: “Lawmakers introducing a new mental health reform bill Tuesday said it would increase access to mental health services and help enforce insurance coverage parity. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said the Mental Health Reform Act of 2015 is a companion bill to a revised House bill brought forth last month by Reps. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas). Cassidy said he and Chris Murphy, both members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, have received assurances from committee leadership that the bill would move forward.”
New Orleans Times-Picayune: “Two senators on opposite sides of the gun control debate joined together Tuesday (Aug. 4) to offer up legislation they hope will result in a substantial upgrade in mental health services. Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Ct., said he and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., ‘disagree a lot’ when it comes to gun control. But Murphy said he takes seriously the requests from parents of the 20 first graders and educators killed just before Christmas 2012 at a Connecticut elementary school about not letting opposition to the gun control they favor stop action on other issues where's there's more consensus -- like mental health upgrades.”
Connecticut Post: “On the margins of a slew of mass shootings that have heightened awareness of mental illness, a growing stack of bills in Congress aim to overhaul the country’s mental health system. The latest to join the effort is Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy. The Democrat introduced a bipartisan bill with Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., on Tuesday that would address what Murphy views as a ‘broken’ mental health system in America by making mental health services more accessible. More than 90,000 people in Connecticut are struggling with severe mental illness — and one in five adults nationwide. But nearly half of them will go untreated, often spiraling down a path of substance abuse, homelessness and even incarceration.”
Baton Rouge Advocate: “Mental-health issues would get more attention from the federal government and the mentally ill would gain greater access to treatment under a bipartisan bill outlined Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the lead sponsor of the legislation. ‘It is our hope that these improvements will mean better and more successful care to help prevent unnecessary suffering and tragic consequences,’ Cassidy, a Baton Rouge physician, said at a news conference on the proposal. Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., appeared with Cassidy as the principal co-sponsor of the bill; both serve on the Senate Heath, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The Mental Health Reform Act would establish the position of assistant secretary for mental health and substance use within the federal Dept. of Health and Human Services, elevating the profile of the issue. The assistant secretary would oversee grant programs and promote high-quality approaches to treatment.”
Connecticut Mirror: “Sen. Chris Murphy has teamed up with a Republican colleague from Louisiana to press for an overhaul of the nation’s mental health system at a time when Congress – stung by a rash of mass shootings by mentally unstable people – may be willing to consider changes… Supported by major mental health organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the American Psychiatric Association, the “Mental Health Reform Act” has a companion in the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced by Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa.”
KNOE: “Ned Jabour is a mental health expert and local counselor. He says tracking someone's mental health needs to start almost from birth and there are warning signs very early on. ‘Violence toward other children. Violence toward animals. Setting fires,’ said Jabour. Now, lawmakers are pushing for change. Senator Bill Cassidy is partnering with Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut to introduce a mental health reform act. Cassidy, a trained doctor, says: ‘This is about making those individuals, their families and society who are threatened with mental illness, whole.’ Jabour agrees saying mental illness screening needs to start before another violent attack happens. ‘If these people are truly eradicated or helped through a preventative psychology program it would never get to the purchase of a firearm,’ said Jabour.”
