U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh recently visited George Washington University’s Hospital and Behavior Health Department to discuss how to build up mental and behavioral health care.
During his visit, Walsh highlighted the Biden-Harris administration's commitment to strengthening, supporting and diversifying professionals involved in the mental and behavioral health field, according to a May 18 Department of Labor news release.
“In his State of the Union, President Biden outlined a unity agenda in which he announced a national mental health strategy to connect more Americans to care. For this initiative to be successful, our mental health care workers must be supported, and we must have a strong pipeline of diverse professionals coming in the industry,” Walsh said in the release. “Without investing in this vital workforce, we will be unable to meet the acute demand for mental health services, which the pandemic has increased significantly.”
According to the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 52.9 million adults were living with a mental illness, as reported in the news release. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 41,000 substance abuse, behavioral disorder and mental health counselor openings that are projected, on average, every year through 2030.
The release reported Walsh and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra joined health insurance and business leaders May 4 to talk about compliance within the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and "adequacy of in-network providers and mental health and substance use disorder treatment during the pandemic.”
