Bipartisan Mental Health Improvement Act Passes Unanimously Out of Committee

Press Release

U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today announced that legislation he cosponsored to improve awareness and prevention of mental illness passed out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. The bill will now head to the full Senate for consideration.

"To truly address the root cause of the terrible violence and tragic attacks we continue to see, we must look to the structural deficiencies in our mental health system," Roberts said. "This bipartisan legislation is a step in the right direction at addressing mental health conditions and preventing another terrible tragedy. Troubled folks, especially our youth, requiring mental health care deserve the highest protections, care and understanding."

The Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act reauthorizes and improves programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services related to awareness, prevention, and early identification of mental health conditions, and the promotion of linkages to appropriate services for children and youth.

The bipartisan legislation focuses on suicide prevention, helping children recover from traumatic events, mental health awareness for teachers and other individuals, and assessing barriers to integrating behavioral health and primary care. This bill makes targeted improvements designed to advance federal efforts to assist states and local communities in addressing the mental health needs of their citizens.

The bill was introduced by HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) Roberts is an original cosponsor of the bill along with Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

Roberts was also an original cosponsor of this bill in the previous Congress.

As the Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care, the Co-Chair of the Senate Rural Health Caucus and as a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Roberts has fought for improved mental health services and mental health parity. Senator Roberts was a long time original cosponsor of Senators Pete Domenici and Paul Wellstone's landmark legislation on Mental Health Parity which became law in 2008. He was also a supporter of the Garrett Lee Smith Act.

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