The House of Representative has overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill (H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act) to reform the nation's mental health care system. Key provisions of the legislation would: provide grants to increase access to treatment for children with mental disorders and individuals with serious mental illness and fund various other mental health programs; promote evidence-based models in mental health care; clarify Medicaid coverage provisions related to mental health services; promote compliance with mental health and substance use disorder coverage parity requirements; promote workforce development; direct the Secretary of HHS to clarify the circumstances under which disclosure of protected health information is permitted under HIPAA for patients with mental illness; and make various administrative reforms, including establishment of an Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use to improve oversight of federal mental health and substance use programs. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved a separate bill, S 2680, the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016, in March.
This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.