Greater Mental Health Access Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4428 To establish a special enrollment period for family members of an individual who has died by suicide, to establish a competitive grant program to provide services and support to friends and family members impacted by an individual’s suicide, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 Ms. WILD (for herself, Mr. TRONE, and Mr. MOULTON) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Over- sight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a special enrollment period for family members of an individual who has died by suicide, to establish a competitive grant program to provide services and sup- port to friends and family members impacted by an individual’s suicide, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Greater Mental Health 4 Access Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4428.IH H4428 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4428 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) One in five adults in America experience 3 some form of mental illness, and nearly one in twen- 4 ty-five adults live with serious mental illness. 5 (2) Access to mental health services is a par- 6 ticularly pervasive problem; 28 million residents of 7 the United States are uninsured and have no access 8 to mental health services. Studies show that nearly 9 60 percent of adults and 50 percent of children with 10 a mental illness did not receive mental health serv- 11 ices in the previous calendar year. 12 (3) The lack of access to mental health services 13 has, in part, contributed to an increase in the sui- 14 cide rate in the United States, which is now the 15 tenth leading cause of death in this country. 16 (4) In 2017, 47,173 Americans died by suicide. 17 (5) In 2017, there were an estimated 1,400,000 18 suicide attempts in the United States. 19 (6) Suicide by a loved one often results in ‘‘sui- 20 cide contagion’’; for surviving family and friends the 21 risk of attempting suicide increases by 65 percent. 22 (7) Family and friends who lost a loved one to 23 suicide are 80 percent more likely to drop out of 24 school or stop working. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4428.IH H4428 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4428 IH (8) Access to mental health services is impor- 1 tant to mitigate suicide, suicide contagion, and be- 2 reavement. Access to care also reduces the financial 3 burden for individuals in need of mental health serv- 4 ices. 5 (9) The Patient Protection and Affordable Care 6 Act has increased access to mental health services, 7 but there is still a large population that is uninsured 8 or has insufficient coverage to seek mental health 9 services. 10 (10) Family and friends who have lost a loved 11 one to suicide should not face hurdles when attempt- 12 ing to access mental health services. As such, a sui- 13 cide or suicide attempt should constitute a ‘‘quali- 14 fying life event’’ for any individual who is eligible to 15 enroll, but is not enrolled, in a health benefit plan 16 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care 17 Act. 18 SEC. 3. PROVIDING FOR A SPECIAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD 19 FOR FAMILY MEMBERS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO 20 HAVE COMMITTED SUICIDE. 21 (a) PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.—Section 22 2702(b)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 23 300gg–1(b)(2) is amended by inserting ‘‘including a spe- 24 cial enrollment period for family members of individuals 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4428.IH H4428 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4428 IH who have died by suicide, allowing them to enroll in, or 1 change, their health care plan, beginning on the date on 2 which the suicide is reported to the health insurance 3 issuer’’ before the period at the end. 4 (b) PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE 5 ACT.—Section 1311(c)(6) of the Patient Protection and 6 Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18031(c)(6)) is amend- 7 ed— 8 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 9 the end; 10 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub- 11 paragraph (E); and 12 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol- 13 lowing new subparagraph: 14 ‘‘(D) a special enrollment period for family 15 members of individuals who have died by sui- 16 cide, beginning on the date on which the suicide 17 is reported to the Exchange; and’’. 18 (c) SPECIAL ENROLLMENT PERIODS.—Section 19 9801(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 20 9801(f)) is amended by adding at the end the following 21 new paragraph: 22 ‘‘(4) FOR FAMILY MEMBERS OF INDIVIDUALS 23 WHO HAVE DIED BY SUICIDE.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4428.IH H4428 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4428 IH ‘‘(A) A group health plan shall permit an 1 employee who is eligible, but not enrolled, for 2 coverage under the terms of the plan (or a de- 3 pendent of such an employee if the dependent 4 is eligible, but not enrolled, for coverage under 5 such terms) to enroll for coverage under the 6 terms of the plan upon the suicide of a family 7 member, with the special enrollment period be- 8 ginning on the date on which the suicide is re- 9 ported to the group health plan. 10 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall promulgate regu- 11 lations with respect to the special enrollment 12 period under subparagraph (A), including es- 13 tablishing a time period for family members of 14 an individual who has died by suicide to enroll 15 in coverage or change coverage, and effective 16 date of such coverage.’’. 17 (d) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ HEALTH BENEFITS PRO- 18 GRAM.—The requirements imposed by the amendments 19 made by subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section shall 20 apply to any plan provided under the Federal Employees’ 21 Health Benefits Program (chapter 89 of title 5, United 22 States Code). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4428.IH H4428 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4428 IH (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 this section shall apply with respect to plan years begin- 2 ning after the date of enactment. 3 SEC. 4. OUTPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. 4 Subpart 3 of part B of title V of the Public Health 5 Service Act is amended by inserting after section 520E– 6 4 (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36d) the following new section: 7 ‘‘SEC. 520E–5 OUTPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 9 the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance 10 Use, shall award grants to medical providers, hospitals, 11 clinics, not-for-profit organizations, and religious organi- 12 zations, to provide outpatient mental health services for 13 individuals impacted by the attempted or completed sui- 14 cide of a friend or family member. 15 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—Of the unobligated bal- 16 ance of the amount appropriated under section 4002 of 17 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Sec- 18 retary shall transfer $6,000,000 to carry out this section. 19 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 20 of enactment, the Secretary shall submit a report to Con- 21 gress on the implementation of this section. 22 ‘‘(d) OUTPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES.—In 23 this section, the term ‘outpatient mental health services’ 24 includes each of the following services: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Sep 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4428.IH H4428 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4428 IH ‘‘(1) Short-term counseling. 1 ‘‘(2) Referral services. 2 ‘‘(3) Follow-up services.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4428.IH H4428 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS