Groups call on Congress to reform mental health system

Liz Szabo | USA TODAY

A day after a mass shooting in Oregon, 23 mental health groups are calling on Congress to pass legislation aimed at repairing the USA's broken mental health system.

The groups delivered a letter to congressional leaders Thursday, just hours before the attack at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. left 10 people dead. The shooting was the latest in a series of mass killings perpetrated by unstable young men, many of whom were mentally ill.

While people with mental illness are generally no more violent than anyone else, the attacks have cast a spotlight on mental illness and the serious gaps in mental health care.

"How many more reminders do we need that mental health has to be a high priority?" asked psychiatrist Renee Binder, president of the American Psychiatric Association, which coauthored a letter to leaders of the House of Representatives, where several mental health bills have been introduced. "This is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. This is an American issue."

Although more than 13 million Americans have a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression, most fail to receive the psychiatric care and services that could help them lead productive lives, according to the letter.

In the House, Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., has sponsored a bill that aims to make it easier for families to be involved in the care of loved ones with mental illness. Today, doctors and nurses often cite federal privacy laws when shutting families out of their loved one's mental health care, even though, in many cases, they're legally permitted to share the information.

Reps. Tim Murphy, R-Pa. and Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas also have introduced a bill to clarify healthy privacy rules. Their bill also would create an Assistant Secretary of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders, who would coordinate mental health care across federal agencies and ensure that private insurers comply with federal laws on mental health coverage.

In addition, their bill would increase the number of hospitals beds for people in acute psychiatric crisis; support early intervention; and support "telepsychiatry" to increase mental health care for people in rural areas.

"Basic services are not available for many patients who have severe mental illness," Johnson said. "Many of these people end up homeless or incarcerated because there is a scarcity of treatment options."

Murphy said he's frustrated that his bill, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, has not moved forward.

"A person is dying from suicide, homicide or drug overdose every few minutes," said Murphy, a child psychologist. The cost of delaying action "can be measured in lives lost. . . . Every time I hear about another tragedy, I think about how bill could have helped them, so that people have a place to go in a crisis."

The Murphy-Johnson bill "really is landmark mental health reform," said John Snook, executive director of the Virginia-based Treatment Advocacy Center, which also cosigned the letter. "It talks about every aspect of this issue in a really smart way."

Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., have introduced a similar bill in the Senate.

Also in the Senate, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has introduced a bill that would allow communities to use federal funds to expand crisis intervention teams. These teams -- already in place in many police departments around the country -- are trained to respond to deescalate psychiatric crises, helping people with mental illness avoid arrest. Cornyn's bill also promotes mental health courts, which allow inmates with mental illness to receive treatment, rather than remain in prison.

Ron Honberg, national director of policy and legal affairs at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said it would be "heartbreaking" if Congress fails to improve mental health coverage.

"We need to get something meaningful passed this year," said Honberg, whose group also cosigned the letter. "We'll never have a better chance at reform because both the Republicans and Democrats agree that significant improvements to mental health care are needed."

Honberg said he hopes lawmakers will find a way to work together.

"To get legislation passed in Congress these days is a challenge," Honberg said. "But the fact that we have agreement on the need to fix the broken mental health system is huge."