U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) is part of a bipartisan alliance of lawmakers steering U.S. House budget leaders toward authorizing sorely needed funds already mandated for national mental health programs.
Such funding was included as part of the sweeping mental health reforms provided for in the 21st Century Cures Act, signed into law in 2016 by President Barack Obama. The law also reformed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug approval process to expedite the development of new medications and treatments and allocated $4.8 billion to precision medicine and biomedical research.
The law’s mental health provisions included specific funding authorizations for new research programs on developing best practices in mental health treatment, new federal grants to help grow the nation’s network of mental health providers, and encouraged states to draft early intervention plans for serious mental health illness, according to a March 13 letter signed by Rep. Upton and 27 of his colleagues sent to House Appropriations Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) and the committee’s Ranking Member U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY).
“However, patients and families have yet to benefit from many of these programs due to our government operating on continuing resolutions resulting in the inability to provide funding without completion of the fiscal year 2018 appropriation bills,” according to the bipartisan letter, which also included the signatures of U.S. Reps. Ryan Costello (R-PA), Mike Bishop (R-MI), John Katko (R-NY), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), and Elizabeth Esty (D-CT).
“To date, many of these programs have yet to receive any funding. As such, we respectfully request that as you are completing the FY 2018 appropriations package, you include necessary funding to ensure that the programs established in the 21st Century Cures Act achieve the success that was intended by Congress,” wrote the lawmakers, who said they want to ensure “better identification, treatment and care” of people who struggle with mental health issues.
Congress is working on an appropriations bill now to replace the current stopgap measure that expires March 23.