Comprehensive Behavioral Health Reform and Recovery Act of 2016
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs.
Comprehensive Behavioral Health Reform and Recovery Act of 2016
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to revise Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) authorities, oversight, and programs, including to establish various grant programs.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Education must: (1) organize a national awareness campaign regarding serious mental illness, and (2) support a public health approach to mental health services.
This bill amends the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act to require HHS to carry out activities regarding disclosure of the protected health information of individuals with mental or substance use disorders.
This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to require state Medicaid plans to cover specified services, including same day primary care and mental health care services.
Title XVIII (Medicare) of the SSAct is revised, including to eliminate the lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services.
HHS must award grants for programs and services, including telehealth services provided by psychiatrists or psychologists.
The bill provides liability protection to certain health professional volunteers.
HHS must maintain a Minority Fellowship Program for mental and substance use disorder treatment professionals to improve services for racial and ethnic minority populations.
The bill makes occupational therapists eligible for the National Health Service Corps.
The bill revises provisions regarding parity between mental health and substance use disorder benefits and medical and surgical benefits.
This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act, including to require practitioners to complete training before dispensing opioids, which are drugs with effects similar to opium, such as certain pain medications.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must provide support to entities to improve drug overdose surveillance and reporting.
HHS must establish a loan repayment program for substance use disorder health professionals.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 2, 2016. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 10, 2016: Referred to the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
GENE GREEN (D-TX) introduced it on February 2, 2016, and 34 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 34 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 2, 2016, 3873 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3865 days ago, on February 10, 2016.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers