Mental Health Care Expansion
On April 10, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee approved by voice vote S. 689, the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act, a bill to address issues related to awareness, prevention, and early identification of mental health conditions. The bill, introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (IA-D), chairman of the committee, would reauthorize through 2017 mental health programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education. The measure may be included in a larger legislative package designed to curtail gun violence. The legislation would reauthorize the Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services on…
