Sens. Cassidy and Murphy explain their version of Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act–a companion bill to Rep. Tim Murphy’s legislation (Photo National Journal)
(3-7-16) A group of Senators are quietly preparing a bipartisan mental health reform bill that they hope to introduce in mid-March in an attempt to get some form of mental health legislation passed this year, according to a news report and D. J. Jaffe, who monitors federal legislation for his website mentalillnesspolicy.org.
Peter Sullivan, a reporter for The Hill, revealed in a March 4th story that the Senate effort is being led by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the leader of the Senate Health Committee, along with Democrat Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) and Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bill Cassidy (R. La.) The White House also is reportedly involved in the negotiations.
You might remember that Sens. Murphy and Cassidy had aligned themselves with Reps. Tim Murphy (R.-Pa.) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D.-Tx.) in the House to get the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015 passed in both chambers. The Senate bill is S 1945 and the House version is 2646. Although they have the same name and are similar, they are not identical. The American Psychiatric Association has posted a comparison of them here.
Until the Senators unveil their behind-the-scenes negotiations, no one can be certain how it will impact Murphy’s bill or others currently making their way through the legislative process. But some are worried that the Senate bill could be used to go around Murphy’s bill which has been stuck in the House even though it has 185 co-sponsors — including 50 Democrats and 135 Republicans.
The Pennsylvania psychologist’s bill has been a lightning rod since it was introduced because it calls for major changes in how mental health care services would be delivered in our nation. At a recent breakfast meeting sponsored by the International Bipolar Foundation, Murphy said that he hoped his bill would finally reach the House floor in March. In a recent 60 Minutes interview, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R. Wis.) said Murphy’s bill was on his radar.
But all of that was before news of the Senators’ closed door meetings and before eleven House Democrats introduced a bill last month as a Democrat alternative to Murphy’s bill.