Senator Debbie Stabenow and President Joe Biden Announce New Behavioral Health Effort to Provide Better Support for Americans

Senator Stabenow’s Transformative Behavioral Health Initiative Continues to Expand Care to Americans; Today’s New Effort Will Build Upon This Progress

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

WASHINGTON—Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) joined President Joe Biden today at the White House to highlight the success of Senator Stabenow’s transformative behavioral health initiative that was expanded nationwide last year and to announce a new effort to ensure mental health is treated the same as physical health.

 

The event at the White House brought together behavioral health leaders to announce a new landmark rule to strengthen the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and close loopholes private insurance plans use to not provide parity between physical and behavioral health coverage. The rule would make sure Americans with private health insurance can better access mental health benefits under their insurance plans.

 

“I can’t say it loud enough: Health care above the neck must be treated the same as health care below the neck. That core belief has been at the center of my work for over decades. My community behavioral health care initiative is a proven success that is transforming mental health and substance use disorder treatment in communities across our country,” said Senator Stabenow. “I’m proud to partner with President Biden today on his administration’s great work to lower the cost of behavioral health care and ensure families can access mental health care on their insurance plans. Step-by-step, more Americans are going to get the help they need.”  

 

“Too often, arbitrary barriers prevent people from getting the mental health and substance use treatment and care they need,” said National Council for Mental Wellbeing President and CEO Chuck Ingoglia. “Not knowing where to go or not knowing if it will result in a significant out-of-pocket cost is enough to stop someone from accessing lifesaving care. Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics remove these barriers by ensuring access to comprehensive and high-quality services, regardless of someone’s ability to pay.”

 

Because of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, states across the country are able to join Senator Stabenow’s successful initiative to provide full Medicaid funding for high-quality behavioral health services through Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics. This is the largest investment in Medicaid funding for behavioral health care in the history of our country.

 

Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics are transforming community care by setting high-quality standards of care and then funding mental health and substance use disorder services as health care through Medicaid. This is the same successful structure used for federally qualified health centers. Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics are required to provide a comprehensive set of services including 24/7/365 crisis services; outpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment services; immediate screenings, risk assessments, and diagnoses; and care coordination including partnerships with emergency rooms, law enforcement, and veterans’ groups.

  

The Department of Health and Human Services found that people who receive care at these clinics had:

 

  • 74% reduction in hospitalization
  • 68% reduction in visits to the emergency room
  • 33% decrease in homelessness
  • 60% less time in jails

 

Also, 84% of these clinics either already provide direct services on site at elementary, middle, and high schools or plan to in the future. 

 

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