Washington, DC – Congressman Frank Pallone’s (NJ-06) bipartisan bill to bolster mental health treatment and prevention passed the U.S. House of Representatives today. The Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022 expands mental health care and substance use disorder prevention services, eliminates barriers to treatment for opioid use disorders, increases suicide prevention services, and invests in mental health services for children and young people. Pallone introduced the bill in May and spoke on the House Floor today in support of it. Video of his speech is available here.
“This bill is needed today more than ever. Americans report rising anxiety and depression and increased use of opioids and other substances. One in five adults are battling a mental illness. Suicide is now the second-leading cause of death for children ages 10 to 14, and earlier this year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report finding that four in ten high school students said they felt persistently sad or hopeless during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Pallone said. “The Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act will help restore hope for millions of Americans. The legislation strengthens and expands more than 30 critical programs that collectively support mental health care and substance use disorder prevention, care, treatment, and recovery support services in communities across the nation.
The legislation also includes crucial provisions to meet the challenges of the nation’s opioid epidemic, bolsters the behavioral health workforce and increases access to mental health and substance use disorder care and coverage, supports the mental health of children and young people and provides substance use disorder prevention and related services for adolescents as well as their families and caregivers, and strengthens Medicaid behavioral health services for children.
Pallone also led House passage today of a bipartisan bill to accelerate biomedical innovation. The Advanced Research Projects Agency Health Act establishes ARPA-H, an independent agency charged with spearheading biomedical breakthroughs by transforming how we detect, treat, and cure deadly diseases. The legislation passed out of his Energy and Commerce Committee last month before passing the House today.
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