WASHINGTON – U.S.
Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), and U.S. Representatives
Doris Matsui (Calif.) and Markwayne Mullin (Okla.), today announced
the Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Expansion Act at an
event in Washington, D.C. The legislation renews and expands funding for
Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs), which were established
in landmark 2014 legislation, the Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction
Treatment Act. Funding for these clinics, which are required to provide a
comprehensive set of mental health and addiction services, is set to run out
starting on March 31, 2019.
The lawmakers were joined by Laura
Heebner, the Executive Vice President of Compass Health Network in Missouri, a
CCBHC that faces funding cuts; Dea Duggan, a 39-year-old mother of four from
Buffalo, New York who has received comprehensive care for mental health and
substance abuse issues at a CCBHC; Assistant Police Chief James Willyard of the
Pryor Creek, Oklahoma Police Department; and Chirlane McCray, the First Lady of
New York City and Founder of Cities Thrive Coalition.
“I’ve been to clinics all over
Missouri that are participating in the Excellence demonstration and I always
hear the same thing: this program is working,” said Blunt. “It is
helping more people get mental health and addiction treatment, in many cases
faster and closer to where they live. It is allowing law enforcement to connect
people struggling with opioid use disorder with the help they need, cutting
down on incarcerations and emergency room visits. This legislation will
continue moving us closer to our goal of treating mental health like all other
health, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to get it done.”
“About one in five people
worldwide is affected by mental illness, and drug overdoses are now the leading
cause of death for Americans under 50. These disorders do not discriminate –
they affect our parents, our veterans, our friends, and our children,” said
Stabenow. “Thanks to our Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction
Treatment Act, more people are getting care for the first time at clinics close
to home.”
“This legislation will protect
urgently needed mental health and addiction treatment services in communities
around the country,” said Matsui. “CCBHCs have dramatically increased
access to 24-hour mental health care and substance use disorder treatment. Our
bipartisan, bicameral legislation is vital for patients to continue to receive
the necessary and comprehensive mental health and addiction support services
they depend on and Congress must act now to extend this critical program.”
“For the first time ever in the
United States, an individual is more likely to die of an opioid overdose than
in a car accident,” said Mullin. “Over 7 million opioid pills were
prescribed in Muskogee County in 2017. That is enough for every man, woman, and
child in Muskogee County to receive 100 pills. Now more than ever, our
communities need help. The Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHB)
pilot program in Oklahoma has provided assistance for those battling mental
illness and substance abuse disorders for the last two years. Unless Congress
acts, the pilot program and its funding will expire at the end of March 2019.
Now is not the time to cut funding to opioid treatment programs. It is vitally
important that the good work being done in our communities can continue so I am
proud to introduce the Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Act
to allow exactly that.”
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
abuse treatment services; immediate screenings, risk assessments, and
diagnoses; and care coordination including partnerships with emergency rooms,
law enforcement, and veterans groups.
The CCBHC pilot program is set to
end on March 31, 2019 in Oregon and Oklahoma and June 30, 2019 in Minnesota,
Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. If funding is not
extended for CCBHCs, an estimated 3,009 staff newly hired to expand services
and treat more people could be laid off, more than 9,000 patients could lose
their medication-assisted treatment, and 77% of CCBHCs will have to
re-establish wait lists.
The Excellence in Mental Health
and Addiction Treatment Expansion Act would expand the number of states
eligible to participate in the Certified Community Behavioral Health Center
demonstration from eight to 19 and give the eight participating states two
years of additional funding.
“The data is ‘in.’ The Excellence
Act demonstration is a success. It’s time to accelerate this success and move
mental health care into the health care mainstream,” said Laura Heebner,
Executive Vice President, Compass Health Network.
“Prior to BestSelf
Behavioral Health Clinic, I relapsed more than 20 times and couldn’t get my
life on track,” said Dea Duggan, a 39-year-old mother of four from Buffalo,
NY who receives comprehensive care for mental health and substance abuse issues.
“Without the comprehensive services and dedicated staff at BestSelf, I wouldn’t
be here today. I look forward to coming to BestSelf every day. It’s the only
way I know I can make it through my day.”
“Prior to the CCBHC demonstration,
our officers would spend four to five hours, if not days with a person
experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis, waiting in emergency
rooms at our local hospital, and then traveling up to an hour to the nearest
treatment center,” said James Willyard, Assistant Chief of Police at
the Pryor Creek Police Department in Pryor, Oklahoma. “With funding through
the CCBHCs, and the availability of immediate access to treatment, we are
saving up to 12 hours a day, per officer when serving citizens in need of mental
health or substance use services. I strongly support extending the CCBHC model
for additional years so our community can have the resources it needs to help
families and individuals get into treatment and recovery instead of jail or the
hospital.”
“The painful reality is that all
across the country, too many people are in crisis – grappling with the
inadequacy of mental health and addiction services,”
said First Lady of NYC, Chirlane McCray, Founder of the Cities Thrive
Coalition. “The Excellence Act has helped equip communities in eight states
– including New York – to begin turning the tide on this crisis, and get more
people the community-based treatments and supports they need. We urge Congress
to quickly pass this legislation. Lives depend on it.”
“The passage of the Excellence in
Mental Health Act began to address the desperate demand for treatment of
addictions and mental illnesses,” said Linda Rosenberg, President and Chief
Executive Officer of the National Council for Behavioral Health. “The eight
states are leading a bold shift in this country, transforming community
services from a patchwork of underfunded and overburdened organizations into a
thriving array of clinics that provide patient-centered care. This important
legislation would allow current innovation to continue for another two years,
expand the opportunity so others struggling can get effective care and enable
important analysis and learning that can be shared nationwide.”
U.S.
Senators Joni Ernst (Iowa), Cory Gardner (Colo.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Chuck
Schumer (N.Y.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Sheldon Whitehouse
(R.I.), and Ron Wyden (Ore.) cosponsored this legislation.
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