Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) co-sponsored legislation on Thursday that would increase mental health treatment options and make care for patients and families a federal priority.
The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act followed a yearlong congressional investigation that examined the mental health programs the federal government allocates $125 billion to annually.
Buchanan’s endorsement coincided with the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations releasing a report on Thursday that outlined federal mental health programs.
“Mental illness does not discriminate,” Buchanan said. “This is a disease that affects all segments of society and yet so many continue to fall through the cracks. We must do everything in our power to strengthen our mental health system so our loved ones receive the proper care and treatment they need.”
Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), a practicing psychologist, introduced the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act.
“Our investigative work revealed that those most in need of treatment – patients with serious mental illnesses such as persistent schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression – are the least likely to get the acute medical help they desperately need,” Murphy said. “We revealed significant gaps in inpatient and outpatient care, confusing and outdated legal barriers to treatment, and outright failures in the current mental health system.”
The legislation would reform laws used to commit an individual into mental care. It would also modernize the legal framework to help families and doctors make better decisions on mental health treatment and hold federally qualified mental health centers to a higher standard
Under the current system, data is not regularly collected on the performance of mental health programs. The measure would create a new position within the Department of Health and Human Services that would be tasked with providing evidence-based models of care.
The measure would also provide an alternative to institutionalization and long-term impatient care through assisted outpatient treatment programs that have been found successful in reducing imprisonment, hospital visits and homelessness.
Under the bill, steps would also be taken to increase the number of beds available for psychiatric care across the nation and expand care in rural areas.