A bill to address a slate of mental health initiatives has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., revived the Mental Health Matters Act Jan. 3, according to a news release.
Here are five things to know about the proposed legislation:
- The bill is an updated version of a 2022 bill. The legislation passed the House, but stalled in the Senate.
- In 2022, the bill passed the House of Representatives on a largely party-line vote, according to The Hill. One Republican joined 219 Democrats in voting for the legislation.
- The proposed legislation targets several mental health initiatives, including efforts to recruit more mental health professionals to public schools.
- The bill would also strengthen the ability of the Department of Labor to enforce mental health parity standards for private health plans. This provision was a sticking point in the 2022 version of the bill.
"Providing [the Department of Labor] with the authority to level civil monetary penalties against plans and increase their risk of litigation will only force plans to drop mental health coverage," Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said of the bill in 2022, according to The Hill. - In 2022, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would have no direct effect on federal spending.