Senate Help Committee Eyes Mental Health, Substance Use Package

This morning, the Senate HELP Committee will hold an executive session regarding the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016, a comprehensive mental health package negotiated in part by the Senate HELP Committee and the Administration. The HELP Committee will also follow up on the recently passed Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) and consider four substance use bills as they relate to heroin and opioids. Given that two weeks of the legislative calendar were devoted to passing CARA, which was ultimately passed overwhelming by a vote of 94-1, it is hard to imagine these bills getting significant floor time. Still, that doesn’t mean these bills would not be considered under unanimous consent, allowing members to pad their resume without wasting, for lack of a better word, precious legislative time prior to the 2016 elections. Before we take a closer look at mental health, let’s consider the substance use legislation:

The Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment (TREAT) Act (S. 1455): The TREAT Act would increase access to care by increasing the number of patients certain qualifying practitioners are initially allowed to treat from 30 to 100 patients per year. After one year, qualifying physicians would be permitted to request removal of the cap on the number of patients they can treat. A qualifying practitioner must either be a recognized substance abuse treatment specialist or complete an approved training in a qualified practice setting, as defined in the legislation. It also allows certain nurse practitioners, provided they are licensed in a state that already allows them to prescribe controlled substances, are supervised by a physician who is approved to prescribe opioid addiction medicine, and complete approved training on opioid addiction treatment, to treat up to 100 patients per year. Lastly, the Government Accountability Office would be required to examine changes in treatment availability and utilization, quality, and impact on state-level policies, among other metrics. This legislation was introduced by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and has 17 bipartisan cosponsors.