At Restoring Connections, we are committed to improving mental health care and hope you will join us.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Unprecedented numbers of people are struggling with mental health conditions. Among those struggling with mental illness, many find their symptoms are worsening due to lack of access to mental health care. Many mental health professionals are unable to accept insurance. In other cases, health insurance—including Medicare—fails to adequately cover mental health care.
Your advocacy to the US Congress can make a difference. On the federal level, the Mental Health Access Improvement Act (S. 828/H.R. 432) and the Promoting Effective and Empowering Recovery Services in Medicare (PEERS) Act (S. 2144/H.R. 2767) would allow people covered by Medicare to get help from marriage and family therapists, licensed mental health counselors, or peer support specialists. Millions of people are covered by Medicare, including people over the age of 65 and certain younger individuals with disabilities like mental health conditions. These bills would increase the Medicare workforce by over 225,000 mental health providers—helping more people access services in their community.
We invite you to consider today: Ask your members of the US Congress to support passage of the Mental Health Access Improvement Act (S.828/H.R. 432) and the PEERS Act (S.2144/H.R. 2767).
If relevant, you might include in your message a time when you or someone you know struggled to find a mental health professional. Below is a sample script, but we encourage you to personalize it using your own words. Find your US Congress members at https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member
Sample Script:
Dear Senator (or Representative)
As a constituent, I am writing to encourage you to support the passage of the Mental Health Access Improvement Act (S. 828/H.R. 432) and the Promoting Effective and Empowering Recovery Services in Medicare (PEERS) Act (S. 2144/H.R. 2767).
According to recent data by the Health Resources & Services Administration, over 40% of our country—more than 149 million people—lives in mental health professional shortage areas, where access to mental health and substance use treatment is limited or completely unavailable.
The Mental Health Access Improvement Act allows marriage and family therapists and licensed mental health counselors to receive reimbursement from Medicare for their services, adding an estimated 225,000 providers to the Medicare behavioral health workforce. The PEERS Act allows for the participation of peer support specialists in the provision of integrated behavioral health services to Medicare beneficiaries.
These bills would immediately expand access to lifesaving mental health and substance use providers for people who are covered by Medicare by allowing Medicare to reimburse for services by these providers.
Please co-sponsor and support these vital bills to help build the mental health workforce our state desperately needs.
Sincerely,
(Your name)