Integration of Mental Health in Healthcare Reform
The Bazelon Center is participating actively in discussions around healthcare reform, with the goal of ensuring integration of mental health care in all health plans. Various legislative proposals are in development.
Legislation
- View the latest draft of the HELP health care reform legislation here. Also, see the Dear Colleague letter that coincides with the new HELP draft (7/2/09).
- The House Energy and Commerce, Education and Labor, and Ways and Means Committees have produced a Tri-Committee outline, a summary of the committees' bill and a one-page list of 12 ways that healthcare reform will help individuals and families (all are PDF files) (6/22/09).
- The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has released a draft of a bill, with options, to “make quality, affordable health care available to all Americans.” The committee began working on this legislation the week of June 15, 2009. See a press release on the bill, a section-by-section summary (Word document) and a PDF file of the bill itself at http://help.senate.gov/BAI09A84_xml.pdf. For an assessment of the Senate HELP Committee bill and its potential to meet the needs of people with mental illnesses, read here.
- See a summary of the Senate Finance Committee healthcare reform bill, released in May 2009.
Bazelon Center Issue Briefs
The Bazelon Center has prepared a series of issue briefs on critical areas affecting the integration of mental health services in healthcare reform. You are encouraged to download, print and disseminate these Adobe PDF files:
A folder containing the full series in print is available; you can order it here.
Media Resource
The chapter on Mental Health and Substance Abuse in Covering Health Issues, a reporters' guide published by the Alliance for Health Reform (3/23/09)
|
