Mental Health

This week I participated in a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the mental health crisis in the United States. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in five American adults live with some form of mental illness. Other government data show, among school-aged children, diagnosed cases of anxiety and depression are increasing over time—from 5.4% in 2003 to 8.4% in 2011-2012. These alarming numbers are pre-pandemic. While the COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on the need to address the mental health crisis in this country, there are many contributing factors to Americans' declining mental health.

COVID-19 has heightened this crisis. Many COVID policies and restrictions have had an outsized impact on children, and our most vulnerable children have higher instances of mental, behavioral, or developmental disorders. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1 in 5 children who live below 100% of the federal poverty level—$26,500 for a family of four in 2021—face mental, behavioral, or developmental challenges. Families with the fewest resources are not only being left to navigate remote learning; they are often expected to do so with children who need special attention.

Study after study has shown school closures and other COVID-19 restrictions, like forcing children to wear masks in schools, will have long-term consequences for children. While I enjoyed a snow day myself from time to time, having been trained as an educator, I know just how important the relationship between a student and their teacher—in person, in an actual brick and mortar classroom—is in their own intellectual growth and achieving academic and personal success. This is why I strongly support keeping schools open and empowering parents, not school administrators, to make choices about what works best for their child.

Natural disasters, like the blizzard and subsequent flooding Nebraska experienced in 2019, or economic shocks—whether they impact a certain agricultural sector or all of us like unprecedented inflation—have illustrated how mental health care needs exceed available resources in many areas. Nebraskans know all too well how shortages of skilled health care providers, including those who work in mental and behavioral health, make it more difficult to access the care you need when and where you need it.
Addressing these long-term shortages requires innovation and creative approaches, often leveraging modern technology. One of the few good things to come out of the disruption caused by COVID was the expansion of telehealth options and services. Telehealth holds tremendous promise, and the federal government must work in a bipartisan way to remove any barriers which prohibit or delay expansion. Providers need flexibility and access to the technologies we know can improve health outcomes for patients in Nebraska and across the country, particularly in rural areas.

For example, Children's Hospital, which has a branch location in Kearney, is working on new initiatives to deploy telehealth technologies into urgent care settings. These resources would allow at-risk children and youth experiencing mental health difficulties to access a variety of different treatments and specialists before, not after, they have reached a crisis point. This is the kind of innovation that can save lives.

One of the greatest challenges related to mental health care in our state is the shortage of professional mental health providers. To address this shortage, an effective way to expand the pool of those able to provide mental health services is by increasing peer support specialists. Peer support is a type of behavioral health therapy in which a trained and certified peer with a related or comparable diagnosis helps provide counseling and therapy services to those navigating substance use disorders or certain mental illnesses. I am working with my colleague Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) on bipartisan legislation—the Promoting Effective and Empowering Recovery Services in Medicare, or PEERS, Act—to make it easier for peer support to be included in integrated behavioral health services covered by Medicare. Peer support has been proven as an effective and low-cost treatment option, especially in areas with limited or no access to traditional mental health care providers.

Finally, we cannot ignore the impact opioid and other substance abuse disorders continue to have on Americans' mental health. I voted in favor of the SUPPORT Act when it passed both the House and the Ways and Means Committee. It was signed into law by President Trump in October 2018 and provided comprehensive resources to combat the opioid epidemic and help prevent overdose deaths. Prior to the pandemic the number of overdose deaths were on the decline, but sadly, last November the CDC announced overdose deaths surpassed 100,000 during the 12-month period of April 2020 to April 2021.

It is clear we have more work to do to foster and promote strong mental health. Measures like my PEERS Act, expanding access to telehealth, and ensuring children and their families benefit from quality, in-person education will help make a difference. Given the popularity and effectiveness of telehealth, and the bipartisan support for expanding access to mental health services through bills like the PEERS Act, it is incredibly frustrating to see the House majority refuse to put serious effort into finding long-term solutions to these problems. I sincerely hope the attention drawn to these issues by our recent hearing will provide the momentum needed for my colleagues to come together and work on commonsense legislation to address this ongoing crisis.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can access it by calling 1-800-273-8255 or by visiting www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.