Skip to main content
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Digital Health
    • Transformation
    • ESG
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Digital Health Transformation Summit
    • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Digital Health
    • - Future of Staffing
    • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • Data Center
    • Data Center Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • Newsletters
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Government
June 05, 2015 01:00 AM

House bill addresses mental health services, research and records

Andis Robeznieks
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), along with co-sponsor Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), introduced a new version of his 2013 legislation Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, H.R. 2646. Murphy says it would break down barriers to care, clarify privacy standards, expand behavioral health parity and reform outdated programs.

    Murphy, a psychologist who chairs the House Energy & Commerce Committee's oversight and investigations subcommittee, has criticized the $130 billion the federal government spends on behavioral health. He has commented how the nation's mental health system is “best described by its deficits” and has noted how the nation's three largest mental health facilities are the Los Angeles, Cook County and Rikers Island jails in California, Illinois and New York.

    After the school shootings in Newtown, Conn., Murphy presented the first version of the bill.

    The new version includes a new HHS leadership post, assistant secretary for mental health and substance-abuse disorders, and establishes a national mental health policy laboratory to develop new models of care. It also provides for additional psychiatric hospital beds, promotes telepsychiatry for underserved and rural areas, authorizes an early intervention program for people with or developing schizophrenia, focuses on suicide prevention and incentivizes states to provide alternatives to institutionalization. It would also promote the use of health information technology to better coordinate care with primary-care physicians.

    Mark Covall, president and CEO of the Washington-based National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems, applauded Murphy and Johnson for sponsoring the legislation that he said “offers a clear path to save lives, communities and money.”

    Specifically, Covall said in a news release that the bill would reform Medicaid policies that prevent adults from getting short-term acute care in psychiatric hospitals while strengthening mental health and addiction parity.

    “As Congress actively looks for ways to address the mental health and addiction challenges their communities face, Rep. Murphy has laid out a roadmap for congressional action to address gaps and inequalities,” Covall said in the release. “Mental and addictive disorders are illnesses that need to be treated in the same manner as other medical conditions.”

    Mental Health America, an Alexandria, Va.-based mental health advocacy group founded in 1909, opposed the original version of Murphy's bill introduced in 2013. Murphy discussed details at the MHA annual conference Thursday morning before introducing the bill Thursday afternoon.

    Paul Gionfriddo, MHA president and CEO, said he is still reviewing the bill, but added that it adds to a positive, growing trend.

    “We are at a tipping point where the potential for significant reform of our inadequate mental health system is greater than it has been in a very long time,” Gionfriddo said.

    Representatives from the Arlington, Va., and Chicago offices of the National Alliance on Mental Illness said they were still reviewing the measure. NAMI supported the earlier iteration of the bill.

    A spokesman for the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law said Friday that the group was still analyzing Murphy's revised bill. John Heard said it was clear, however, they would still have concerns.

    “These elements include tying the hands of protection and advocacy organizations in a way that would prevent them from doing important work on behalf of people with mental illness, promoting increased use of involuntary treatment for people with mental illness, weakening privacy protections for medical records of people with mental illness and crippling the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,” Heard said.

    He added that the bill contains some good proposals, but, “overall, rather than representing mental health reform, this is regression to failed policies of the past.”

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    abortion-pill-misoprostol-legal
    Abortion pill case advances to appeals court, on course to Supreme Court
    young doctor medical resident
    Federal physician recruitment program at risk
    Most Popular
    1
    More healthcare organizations at risk of credit default, Moody's says
    2
    Centene fills out senior executive team with new president, COO
    3
    SCAN, CareOregon plan to merge into the HealthRight Group
    4
    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan unveils big push that lets physicians take on risk, reap rewards
    5
    Bright Health weighs reverse stock split as delisting looms
    Sponsored Content
    Modern Healthcare Alert: Sign up for this breaking news email to be kept in the loop as urgent healthcare business news unfolds.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Digital Health
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • ESG
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Data Center
      • Data Center Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • Newsletters
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing