Ruppersberger Supports Bill to Address America's Mental Health Crisis

Press Release

Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger today voted in favor of sweeping legislation that will help address America's ongoing mental health crisis by expanding school-based care for struggling students and teachers and strengthening insurance coverage for those suffering from substance abuse. The "Mental Health Matters Act" passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 220 to 205 and now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration.

The COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing opioid crises have had a severe impact on students' and educators' mental health. Last year, more than 44 percent of students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, almost 20 percent considered suicide and 9 percent attempted suicide, according to the CDC. And educators -- already facing demanding and stressful careers before the pandemic -- are now three times more likely to report symptoms of depression than other adults, according to a recent RAND survey.

"Even before the pandemic, too many Americans were suffering from anxiety, depression and substance abuse without access to the right care," Congressman Ruppersberger said. "This legislation offers common sense solutions to relieve our overburdened healthcare system and connect students and educators with help inside the schools where they spend their days. It will help keep stressed teachers in the classrooms, ensure students are thriving and hold insurance companies to account when they won't cover these benefits."

The "Mental Health Matters Act" takes comprehensive steps to strengthen access to mental health services including:

Providing Department of Education grants to state educational agencies to recruit and retain school-based mental-health-services providers at high-need public elementary and secondary schools;
Requiring higher education institutions to allow incoming students with documentation of a disability to access disability accommodations;
Creating a grant program to increase students' access to evidence-based trauma support and mental health services;
Requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to identify and implement evidence-based interventions for Head Start programs for children and staff;
Strengthening Department of Labor authority to ensure that private, employer-sponsored group health plans comply with the requirements of the "Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act," which requires insurance companies to offer the same access to mental health and substance use disorder benefits as physical health benefits;
Strengthening the ability of Americans with private, employer-sponsored health and retirement plans to hold plan sponsors accountable when they are improperly denied benefits.

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