Jul 6, 2016 3 min read

After a nearly four-year fight to get a comprehensive mental health bill to the floor of the U.S. House, Rep. Tim Murphy’s “Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015” was approved Wednesday by a vote of 421-2.

Murphy, R-18th District, who is a psychologist, said during floor debate a moment from his college days stuck with him and motivated him throughout his effort to reform mental health treatment practices and regulations. It was when he heard his father trying to take his own life.

“I heard a soft call for help and I entered the room, and he had cut his wrists,” Murphy said. “It was because my father was depressed and in that moment of despair, without access to resources or help, he tried to take his life. I recognized his and my own sense of helplessness, and even though my father is gone now, that voice has echoed in my mind for decades.”

The bill, which seeks $150 million in spending over 10 years, is a far cry from original funding requests, Murphy said. The health care system deals with $130 billion in mental health care costs each year. But it would fundamentally restructure how mental health is perceived and treated in America.

Among the changes in the bill, acute, short-term care allowances for severe mental health episodes would be extended to 15 days in all hospitals and care facilities. It also gets rid of the “16-bed rule.”

“To have the federal government say you can have no more than 16 beds in a facility to treat the mentally ill, that is just a cruel and absurd limitation,” Murphy said, “because that doesn’t happen with any other type of care.”

The bill also seeks novel ways to treat and maintain treatment for less severe mental health issues, like intervention in childhood mental health training for police officers. It would also provide grant monies for teleconferencing services for psychiatrists and psychologists to reach those in rural or isolated areas.

“Half the counties in America don’t have access to mental health professionals. In Greene County it’s practically nonexistent and in Washington County it’s very scarce,” Murphy said.

Perhaps the most sought-after change is in how medical privacy rules – Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act constraints – have prevented families and friends of addicts and those suffering from mental health issues from being included in conversations and treatment opportunities.

“The concerns with HIPAA are addressed in a strong way. The final version we agreed to was to allow compassionate, collaborative communication with family in order for them to facilitate and continue treatment while still keeping records private,” Murphy said.

Specifics aren’t laid out yet how research in innovative and evidence-based treatments would be paid for, and the bill still has to pass the Senate. “I don’t want to see another year of moments of silence on the floor in future tragedies. The Senate needs to take action.

“How are we going to explain to our constituents that we came so close and didn’t do anything? They must act and pass this bill,” Murphy said.