March 6, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 40 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E252]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTRODUCTION OF THE OUTPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2019

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 6, 2019

  Mr. HASTINGS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Outpatient 
Mental Health Care Act of 2019.
  Medicare Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHPs) provide a structured 
and clinically intensive alternative to hospitalization for patients 
who otherwise might require sustained inpatient psychiatric 
hospitalization. PHP psychiatric patients typically receive four to six 
hours of treatment per day, five to six days a week in hospital-based 
settings and community mental health centers. However, the severity of 
a patient's illness often prevents that individual from obtaining or 
seeking transportation to a PHP facility, or from accessing high 
quality food. Additionally, some psychiatric medications that are 
prescribed to the patient cannot be safely administered without food.
  Currently, Medicare does not cover the costs of nutritional planning, 
meals or transportation for patients who receive psychiatric treatment 
in PHP programs. Therefore, PHP facilities are responsible for the cost 
of providing food and transportation. This exacerbates financial 
burdens that many PHPs and countless other community organizations are 
experiencing in these difficult economic times.
  Medicare also does not provide for vocational counseling. However, 
this counseling provides a direction for patients that they might not 
find on their own. Therefore, vocational counseling is vital for 
individuals while they work through their treatment allowing them to 
set employment goals and develop a plan to meet those goals.
  Madam Speaker, my bill will require Medicare to reimburse PHPs for 
providing transportation, food, nutritional services and vocational 
counseling. The bill also establishes a Behavioral Health Advisory 
Committee in which a diverse group of behavioral health stakeholders 
would examine and provide recommendations on how to address the 
persisting challenges of access, stigma, quality and operability in the 
mental health delivery system.
  PHPs are a cost effective alternative that can prevent mentally ill 
individuals from facing expensive inpatient care, incarceration, or 
institutionalization. The growing role of mental health PHPs in our 
health care system requires that we amend the law to assist PHPs in 
delivering the services, care and support to those who are living with 
severe and chronic mental illness.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this critically 
important legislation.

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