The House Committee on Energy and Commerce will soon run a full committee markup on bills related to mental health care, including H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act.
“We are making great strides on achieving long-sought reforms by removing barriers to care, creating an assistant secretary for mental health and substance use disorders, and transforming how SAMHSA grant dollars are spent,” Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), chair of the committee, and Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), who introduced the bill, said in a joint statement. “For too long, families have struggled to find care for their loved ones with mental illness, and this legislation will begin to deliver the needed reforms. Our work continues next week, and we look forward to a big vote followed by consideration by the full House.”
Murphy, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee chairman, introduced the bill after the mass shooting in Newton, Connecticut. Murphy’s subcommittee advanced the bill -- which contains measures that would achieve health care reforms he has long pursued -- in November 2015.
“Delivering evidence-based treatment is how we will finally conquer stigma surrounding mental illness,” Upton and Murphy said.
