House lawmakers this week will vet a bill to reform the nation’s mental health care system, an effort that has gained renewed energy after a series of mass shootings and the growing opioid addiction crisis.
The system is badly in need of reform, said Bay State Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III.
“Talking to people at hospitals around Boston, they say, ‘Look, we get inundated in our emergency department with people who need mental health care,’ ” Kennedy told the Herald yesterday.
But Kennedy and other lawmakers warn that some aspects of the legislation could create greater barriers to access mental health care for some.
I don’t like the thought of a judge forcing a ruling on a citizen’s treatment. Every citizen deemed competent should be allowed to choose whether or not they want prescription drugs or psychotherapy, or both.
Although, I’m curious what they mean by mandated treatment, and reduced privacies. Those both sound like they have a potential to be abused heavily. I really hope they mean mandate treatment for certain individuals who present violently, and not an across-the-board sweep of everyone. Because you just know schizophrenia is the one they’re going to target most.
Mental health bill amended by GOP in search of Democratic support
Raymond Bridge, public policy director for the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, told Modern Healthcare the bill doesn’t do enough to increase the number of providers, social workers and case managers available, and more funding should be used for housing, crisis prevention, and community mental health services.
Close to 20 House Democrats said in a letter sent last month to the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee they support a state’s right to have AOT (Assisted Outpatient Treatment) but don’t think funding should be used to incentivize it. They added those who are not a harm to themselves or to others should not be forced into treatment and also expressed concerns it would be used disproportionately on minority populations. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) said the amended bill cuts essential funding, stigmatizes mental health issues, reduces privacy protection, and doesn’t help promote Medicaid expansion. “This legislation takes us back to outdated and biased treatment,” he said.
However, the bill does have some bipartisan support. Forty-three of the 154 co-sponsors are Democrats.