ADA thanks Senate Committee for support of mental health bill
Reauthorization included in committee markup
The ADA is thanking the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions for efforts to reauthorize the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act. The committee passed the legislation by a vote of 19-2.
The ADA was one of 63 organizations that signed on to a May 23 coalition letter addressed to Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., thanking them for their “critical effort” to reauthorize the mental health bill.
If enacted, the legislation would reauthorize a federal grant program aimed at increasing mental health resources for health care workers. Lorna Breen, M.D., was a supervising physician in the emergency department of a New York hospital who died by suicide in 2020 after treating COVID-19 patients.
“Because of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, lives have been saved and livelihoods have been protected,” the letter said. “Access to mental and behavioral health support and treatment has improved and more employers are able to engage with their workforce on these issues, provide greater resources and accelerate promising solutions.”
The letter states health care professionals still face high rates of behavioral health conditions, suicide and burnout, emphasizing the importance of continued commitment to the health care field and the patients it serves.
“We must continue working to ensure an environment where each and every health care professional always has access to the necessary mental health care services they need and deserve, without fear of loss of licensure, loss of income or other meaningful career setbacks associated with the stigma of getting the help they need,” the letter reads.
The ADA has previously expressed support for reauthorization of the mental health bill. The Association signed onto a coalition letter in February urging the bill’s reauthorization and supported the originating legislation in 2022.
Follow all the ADA’s advocacy efforts at ADA.org/Advocacy.
