Congress Struggles To Find Consensus On Comprehensive Mental Health Bill
Some high-profile attacks by people with mental health problems have prompted interest in reforming treatment options, but Congress has not yet settled on a policy.
The Kansas City Star:
Three Years After Sandy Hook, Mental Health Overhaul Remains Stubbornly Out Of Reach
Nearly three years after a deeply disturbed man killed 26 children and adults at an elementary school in Connecticut, Congress is still struggling to reform the nation’s system for diagnosing and treating mental illness. A major mental health overhaul bill offered in the weeks following the shootings still sits in a House committee, hamstrung by opposition from some mental health treatment experts, privacy advocates and legislators. Similar comprehensive mental health bills have languished since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, frustrating the mental health community and some politicians. (Helling, 11/27)
Politico:
Mental Health Bill Collides With Guns — Again
The spate of mass killings over the past year reignited mental health reform efforts in both chambers of Congress. A bipartisan bill is gaining momentum in the Senate, with the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions likely to take it up early next year. The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health recently approved a similar bill, and Speaker Paul Ryan this month said on “60 Minutes” that he wants Congress to move ahead on mental health. But the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, has been working behind the scenes to drum up support for his own mental health legislation, which includes language endorsed by the National Rifle Association. (Ehley, 11/29)
