The House passed the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022 in a 402 to 20 vote on Wednesday.
The proposed legislation, which will now move to the Senate, seeks to expand and modify a number of behavioral health programs and grants through 2027. While the legislation had bipartisan support, the 20 votes against the bill came from Republican representatives.
“It’s essentially a package of bills from both Democrat and Republican members seeking to battle mental health and substance use disorders,” Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), said during the meeting. “It basically reauthorizes and makes major investments.”
Pallone said the legislation targets 30 public health programs and includes provisions that “make them more up to date and provide more investments.” Added resources would go toward the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HERSA).
The new bill is also set to expand access to opioid and other substance use disorder treatment and recovery services.
Specifically, the bill would eliminate a provision that requires most patients to be addicted to opioids for a year in order to be admitted to an opioid treatment program. It also seeks to “promote access to high-quality recovery housing.”
According to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, there were more than 100,000 opioid-related deaths in the 12-month period ending in April 2021. That’s a 28.5% increase from the same period last year.
The bill also includes an amendment that would eliminate the restriction on the number of cases a physician or health care provider could care for who are on Buprenorphine.
“And that’s very significant as well, because we felt that during COVID, that cap was very unnecessary and led to a lot of people not getting treated,” Pallone said.
On the mental health side of the legislation, the bill would continue investments in block grants to states and extend mental health screening and treatment grants. Pallone noted that there is a big emphasis on American Indians and Alaskan Native communities.
Additionally, the bill would reauthorize a number of pediatric mental health programs, including pediatric mental health grants and the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances Program.
“I’m very pleased the house is taking action to address this mental health crisis and believe the bills included in HR 7666 will make important strides for that goal by reauthorizing and updating existing programs to meet current needs and to limit duplication,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said.
This is a developing story. BHB will continue to update it as new information surfaces.
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