Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2013 Summary

Hearing Description: The House Energy and Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee recently convened to discuss the latest draft of HR 3717, a bill which addresses aspects of mental health treatment. The witnesses generally agreed that the technology and “know how” exists in this country to help many of the mentally ill, but the implementation is severely lacking.

Hearing Date: April 3rd, 2014

Hearing Summary: Prepared for AAPS by the Market Institute

The Health subcommittee recently met to examine the status of the Mental Health Crisis Act of 2013 and it’s principal goal of helping the mentally ill. In his opening statement, Chairman Joe Pitts (R-PA) outlined H.R. 3717 or “the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2013” which includes legislation that addresses treatment standards, enhancing Medicaid payments to Community Behavioral Health Centers, and creating an Assistant Secretary for Mental Health to oversee all aspects of mental health spending at the Federal level. Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) said in his opening statement mental health is a serious issue in the United States. Over 11 million people battle mental illness. It is imperative that this law is passed to ensure requirements for reporting are enacted.

The first witness, Sylvia Thompson, President at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Westside Los Angeles testified in her opening statement that she knows all too well the effects of mental illness after having a mother who battled severe mental illness for many years. To improve the landscape of mental health care, she recommends implementing IMD reform, require states to have AOT (a program for those with a history of mental illness which allows for judges to place them into mental health care facilities), reforming HIPPA/FERPA to allow family members insight to problems with their mentally ill relatives, and creating an Assistant Secretary to focus federal efforts on the most mentally ill. She strongly urges the committee to pass HR 3717.

The second witness, David Shern, Interim President and CEO at Mental Health America testified in his opening statement that there is a formidable scientific basis for prevention and treatment of mental health and substance use conditions. However, there is a severe general lack of understanding of mental health treatment’s role in this country. The system is fragmented and broken, but we do have the technology to fix it. There needs to be a collective effort to implement that technology.

The third witness, Nancy Jensen, a person with lived experience, testified in her opening statement that the bill being considered must not remove funding for the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Program (PAMI), which guards against abusive conditions for the mentally ill. She detailed her own horrific experience in a group home in Newton, KS where she was the victim of sexual and emotional abuse. Despite efforts to alert local and state authorities, it was PAMI that ultimately shut the place down. Finally, she is concerned about what the bill would do to HIPPA and an individual’s right to privacy.

The fourth witness, Mary Zdanowicz, Attorney testified in her opening statement that redefining PAIMI’s mission and reducing funding will remove the impediment so that states can provide quality care to the most severely ill. The SAMHSA and CMHS reforms, such as linking the $450 million mental health block grant to requiring states to adopt need-for-treatment standards and assisted outpatient treatment, will reintroduce the notion that severe mental illnesses exist and until they are cured, barriers to treatment must be eliminated.

In response to questioning, Mary Zdanowicz said:

Jails and prisons are becoming the new psychiatric hospitals due to lack of actual ones
Increased state involvement, namely intermediate care and assisted outpatient care, will help immensely

In response to questioning, Sylvia Thompson said: