Reauthorizing Evidence-based And Crisis Help Initiatives Needed to Generate Improved Mental Health Outcomes for Patients Act of 2022 or the REACHING Improved Mental Health Outcomes for Patients Act of 2022 This bill reauthorizes through FY2027 various activities related to mental health services and resources. It also establishes grants for assisted outpatient treatment programs. Specifically, the bill reauthorizes a policy laboratory housed within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that promotes evidence-based practices and service delivery models. Additionally, the bill reauthorizes grants and similar assistance for projects and programs to address priority mental health needs of regional and national significance, integrated primary care and behavioral health care at the community level, community-based systems to respond to behavioral health crises, programs to raise awareness about mental health services and resources in communities and train community members about how to respond appropriately and safely to individuals with mental disorders, suicide prevention and intervention programs for individuals over age 25 who are at risk of suicide, and assertive community treatment programs for individuals with the most severe functional impairments associated with mental illness. The bill also requires the Center for Mental Health Services within SAMHSA to award grants to localities, mental health systems, mental health courts, or other entities for assisted outpatient treatment programs (i.e., medically prescribed mental health treatment that is lawfully ordered by a state or local court and that a patient receives while living in a community).
Summer Barrow Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2027 and modifies multiple grants, programs, and other activities that support prevention and treatment of substance use disorders. Specifically, the bill addresses mental health and substance use disorder services for homeless populations; priority substance use prevention and treatment needs that are of regional and national significance; access to treatment in areas with high or increasing rates of opioid use; data collection, research, and other activities to prevent and respond to underage drinking; diversion of individuals with mental health illnesses from the criminal justice system to community-based services; increased access to emergency treatments for known or suspected opioid overdoses (e.g., naloxone), including by expanding the prescriptive authority of certain health care providers; implementation of comprehensive state-based plans to respond to opioid use disorders; and use of opioid alternatives for pain management in hospitals and emergency departments.
9-8-8 and Parity Assistance Act of 2022 This bill modifies provisions to increase access to behavioral health services, with a focus on crisis services and the 9-8-8 telecommunication system. (The 9-8-8 system provides callers with mental health or suicide crisis support and resources through the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and is scheduled to take effect by July 16, 2022.) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) must award grants to crisis call centers for hiring and training staff and otherwise improving operations. Further, SAMHSA must establish standards for a behavioral health crisis continuum of care that health care providers and communities may use in responding to individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis. The continuum must include emergency treatment, stabilization, and related services. Additionally, the bill (1) sets up an office within SAMHSA to coordinate behavioral health activities, (2) requires a national suicide prevention media campaign, and (3) establishes various grants. The grants include a pilot program for mobile crisis care teams that respond to behavioral health crises rather than law enforcement, a capital improvement program for certain behavioral health facilities, and a program for supporting the implementation of federal mental health parity provisions that require health insurance issuers to provide equivalent coverage for mental health services as they provide for medical and surgical services. The bill also expands certain behavioral health education and training programs to encompass education and training related to crisis management.
Anna Westin Legacy Act of 2022 This bill requires the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to maintain the National Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders (NCEED). The bill specifies required activities for NCEED, including providing training for frontline health care providers and other professionals.
Community Mental Health Services Block Grant Reauthorization Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2027 support for crisis care available under the Community Mental Services Block Grant program for adults with serious mental illnesses and children with serious emotional disturbances. The bill also requires states and territories to expend a certain percentage of their grant funds on evidence-based crisis care activities such as crisis call centers, 24/7 mobile crisis services, and crisis stabilization programs in hospitals or other licensed facilities.
Veterans Disability Claims Notification Improvement Act of 2021 This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide notice related to claims in an electronic format upon the election of the claimant, including for decisions by the Board of Veterans' Appeals. Under the bill, a claimant may revoke such an election at any time.
Emmett Till Antilynching Act This bill makes lynching a federal hate crime offense. Specifically, the bill imposes criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to 30 years, or both—on an individual who conspires to commit a hate crime offense that results in death or serious bodily injury or that includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.
This resolution supports the goals and ideals of National Women's History Month and recognizes the women and organizations that continue to promote the teaching of women's history.
Cannabidiol and Marihuana Research Expansion Act This bill establishes a new, separate registration process to facilitate research on marijuana. Specifically, the bill directs the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to follow specified procedures to register (1) practitioners to conduct marijuana research, and (2) manufacturers to supply marijuana for the research. The bill allows certain registered entities (including institutions of higher education, practitioners, and manufacturers) to manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess marijuana or cannabidiol (CBD) for the purposes of medical research. Additionally, the bill directs the DEA to register manufacturers and distributors of CBD or marijuana for the purpose of commercial production of an approved drug that contains marijuana or its derivative. Finally, the bill includes various other provisions, including provisions that require the DEA to assess whether there is an adequate and uninterrupted supply of marijuana for research purposes; prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from reinstating the interdisciplinary review process for marijuana research; allow physicians to discuss the potential harms and benefits of marijuana and its derivatives (including CBD) with patients; and require HHS, in coordination with the National Institutes of Health and relevant federal agencies, to report on the therapeutic potential of marijuana for various conditions such as epilepsy, as well as the impact on adolescent brains and on the ability to operate a motor vehicle.
Emergency Community Care Notification Time Adjustment Act of 2022 This bill modifies the Veterans Community Care Program by requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to deem as authorized emergency care or services provided by a non-VA provider to a covered veteran if the veteran (or an individual acting on the veteran's behalf) submits an application for such authorization by a deadline determined appropriate by the VA, which may not be earlier than 72 hours following the veteran's discharge from the facility. Covered veterans are those who are enrolled in the VA health care system or those who are not enrolled but are eligible for care due to a service-connected disability.
Gerald's Law Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide a burial and funeral allowance for a veteran who dies from a non-service-connected disability in a home or other setting at which the veteran was receiving VA hospice care (if such care was directly preceded by VA hospital or nursing home care).
9-8-8 Implementation Act of 2022 This bill modifies provisions to increase access to behavioral health services, with a focus on crisis services and the 9-8-8 telecommunication system. (The 9-8-8 system provides callers with mental health or suicide crisis support and resources through the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and is scheduled to take effect by July 16, 2022.) The bill reauthorizes through FY2027 and revises the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline program and requires a national suicide prevention media campaign. In addition, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) must establish standards for a behavioral health crisis continuum of care that health care providers and communities may use in responding to individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis. The continuum must include emergency treatment, stabilization, and related services. The bill expands Medicaid and other insurance coverage for such services. The bill further expands Medicaid coverage for behavioral health services. This includes permanently allowing coverage of certain community-based mobile crisis services and exempting some short-term stabilization services from coverage restrictions that apply to institutions for mental diseases. Additionally, the bill establishes (1) an office within SAMHSA to coordinate behavioral health activities; and (2) various grants, including a pilot program for mobile crisis care teams that respond to behavioral health crises rather than law enforcement and a capital improvement program for certain behavioral health facilities. The bill also reauthorizes through FY2027 and expands certain workforce programs for behavioral health providers. It also addresses training for emergency services dispatchers and coordination of the 9-1-1 system with the 9-8-8 system.
