After months of delays, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health is set to mark up Pennsylvania congressman Tim Murphy’s Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (H.R. 2646) on Tuesday afternoon.
Last month, National Review’s editors wrote that Rep. Murphy’s bill “would do much to overhaul our ineffective, oft-corrupt mental-health bureaucracy” — if you need reminding, a $130 billion-per-annum black hole, the money-sucking center of which is the failed Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. For years, SAMHSA has doled out funds to grantees without imposing any meaningful requirement that they provide independent evidence of improved outcomes — or even serve the seriously mentally ill. Murphy’s bill would eliminate SAMHSA and replace it with an assistant secretary for Mental Health, who could redirect federal funds toward proven programs that focus not on “behavioral wellness” but on serious mental illness. Murphy’s bill would also modify the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act so that family members of people with serious mental illness can be involved in their loved one’s care; reduce the influence of SAMHSA-promoted“patient advocates”; advance early-intervention programs with proven success; and much more.
Murphy’s bill has broad, bipartisan support. More than 150 representatives from both parties have signed on as cosponsors, and the legislation has widespread grassroots support from a host of organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association, Mental Illness Policy Org., the National Sheriff’s Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and more. On Sunday, the Washington Post editorial board announced its support.
Less than 5 percent of the total population is directly affected by serious mental illness, but its consequences are manifest in our prisons and on our streets. Tim Murphy’s bill is a hugely important effort to assist the several million persons whose lives are burdened by schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other serious mental illnesses.
Voice your support for the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act by contacting House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Fred Upton (R., Mich.) at 202-225-3761.