Congresswoman Johnson and Congressman Murphy Introduce Mental Health Crisis Act

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), along with co-sponsor Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), introduced a new version of his 2013 legislation Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, H.R. 2646. The Bill is designed to break down barriers to care, clarify privacy standards, expand behavioral health parity and reform outdated programs.

The new version includes a new HHS leadership post, assistant secretary for mental health and substance-abuse disorders, and establishes a national mental health policy laboratory to develop new models of care. It also provides for additional psychiatric hospital beds, promotes telepsychiatry for underserved and rural areas, authorizes an early intervention program for people with or developing schizophrenia, focuses on suicide prevention and incentivizes states to provide alternatives to institutionalization. It would also promote the use of health information technology to better coordinate care with primary-care physicians.