The Senate approved bipartisan legislation co-sponsored by Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) on Monday that would improve mental health care across the nation.
A version of the Excellence in Mental Health Act was approved as an amendment to a bill that would reform Medicare’s sustainable growth rate formula.
“This is a great victory for the nearly one in four Americans who are living with diagnosable mental illnesses nationwide,” Blunt said. “It’s also an important step forward as we work to reach our goal that we treat these behavioral illnesses just like any other physical illness. These Americans should have the same opportunity for a cure, and this provision will help ensure communities come together and we have a system to address these problems.”
The Excellence in Mental Health Act would allow community mental health centers to earn the certified community behavioral health clinic designation in an effort to make the nation’s mental health care network less fragmented.
“(Monday’s) vote is a landmark step forward in the effort to expand community mental health services for people living with mental illness and reduce the stigma around mental illness.” Stabenow said. “This is a critically important issue that touches all of our families in some way, and this legislation is one of the most significant steps in decades to expand access to care. I’m glad that both the House and the Senate were able to come together and act in a bipartisan way to strengthen mental health services.”