WASHINGTON, DC - The House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), has scheduled a full committee markup on Wednesday, June 15, 2016, to consider several bills including landmark mental health legislation. Details on the time and location will be posted here, as they become available. Among the bills being considered is Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy’s (R-PA) bipartisan H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act.
“Next week we’ll mark a critical milestone in the multi-year effort to begin to deliver meaningful bipartisan reforms for families in mental health crisis," said Upton and Murphy. “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. 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."
In the wake of the tragedy of Newtown, Connecticut, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Murphy has led the multi-year effort to reform the nation’s failing mental health care system. The Subcommittee on Health passed Rep. Murphy’s H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, last November. The committee has had success in getting important mental health provisions across the finish line, most recently funding for the Assisted Outpatient Treatment grant program. The updated legislation achieves critical reforms that Chairman Murphy has long pursued.
“Delivering evidence-based treatment is how we will finally conquer stigma surrounding mental illness," added Upton and Murphy.
A full list of bills, and electronic copies of the bills will be available on the Energy and Commerce Committee’s website here. A background memo, amendments, and votes will be available at the same link as they are posted.
The draft legislation can be found HERE.
