(June 27, 2016) The Washington Post editorial board is the latest in a string of major media outlets voicing support for monumental mental health reform legislation slated for full House vote next month (“A glimmer of hope for reforming mental health care in America,” the Washington Post, June 25).
The Post offers high praise for Representatives Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Eddie Bernice Johnson’s (D-TX) Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (HR 2646), calling it “a remarkable achievement” and “one bright spot of progress” in an otherwise tragic month.
The bill passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee last week with unanimous support and moves on to the House next. Meanwhile, in the Senate, the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016 (S.2680) also awaits a vote on the floor.
Both bills would support mental health grant programs and elevate the importance of mental health and severe mental illness within the federal government, but there are key differences between the two.
For example, HR 2646 would reform the discriminatory IMD exclusion barriers to increase the availability of psychiatric inpatient beds – “a change that could encourage the building of bigger treatment centers and help solve the national shortage of nearly 100,000 psychiatric beds,” writes the Post.
Another key provision in the bill would authorize an additional two years of funding for a federal grant program to incentivize communities to implement assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) – court-ordered treatment for individuals with severe mental illness who are unwilling or unable to seek treatment themselves.
In a show of support for AOT, the Post editors assert, “Prevention is important, but [prevention] programs can and should walk hand-in-hand with aid for those who reach a point where they will not or cannot admit that they need help — before they can harm themselves or others, and before they end up committed or incarcerated.”
We couldn’t agree more. HR 2646 represents a watershed moment for bipartisan action on a critical issue.
But the battle hasn’t been won yet. We still need to put pressure on Congress to PASS HR 2646.
To keep the momentum going, advocates and supporters must continue to convey their support.
Tell your Representatives the time is now for real mental health reform, and visit #aBedInstead to learn more about the Treatment Advocacy Center’s campaign to address the national psychiatric bed shortage.
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