WASHINGTON, DC - The House of Representatives today passed landmark bipartisan legislation to reform our nation’s mental health system by a vote of 422-2. H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, was introduced by Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA) following an extensive subcommittee investigation into the nation’s failing mental health care system.
“This vote marks an important milestone in the multi-year, multi-Congress effort to deliver meaningful reforms to the nation’s mental health system. For way too long, mental health was a subject left for the shadows. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case," stated full committee Chairman Fred Upton Upton (R-MI) on the House floor. “We continue to hear tales of great loss where intervention was lacking or nonexistent. This bipartisan bill will truly make a real difference and deliver meaningful reforms to families in mental health crisis all across America."
“This historic vote closes a tragic chapter in our nation’s treatment of serious mental illness and welcomes a new dawn of help and hope," said Congressman Murphy. “We are ending the era of stigma. Mental illness is no longer a joke, considered a moral defect and a reason to throw people in jail. No longer will we discharge the mentally ill out of the emergency room to the family and say ‘Good luck, take care of your loved one, we’ve done all the law will allow.’ Today the House voted to deliver treatment before tragedy."
Today’s vote builds upon prior success in achieving other important reforms to our mental health system - most recently funding for the Assisted Outpatient Treatment grant program in December’s year-end spending package, and CMS also expanded settings of care for the mentally ill in April.
