988’S EARLY RESULTS — The 988 suicide prevention line, launched in mid-July, saw a 45 percent increase in calls in August 2022 compared to August 2021.

The new system’s first full month showed improvements, according to HHS data released Friday, including faster response times and higher answered rates.

Calls, texts and chats routed to 988 topped 360,000 in August, with 88 percent of them answered. Most people called the line, though more than 100,000 texted or chatted online — methods that had higher answered rates.

Wait times varied by medium, with callers waiting about 30 seconds for an answer and those texting waiting closer to a minute and a half. Those texting had an average contact time of almost 53 minutes. Callers had a much shorter average time on the line, about 11 minutes.

With the data’s announcement, HHS also introduced $35 million in grants to bolster the 988 system in tribal areas.

More changes to how the federal government handles mental health care are likely ahead. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) sent a letter early Monday asking the Biden administration to update guidance on Medicaid funding for school-based mental health care, according to a letter shared exclusively with Pulse.

In its June passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Congress tasked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to update its guidance in the hopes it would expand access to care for children.

“Updating federal guidance regarding Medicaid funding for services in school-based settings is long overdue and urgently needed to help address the youth mental and behavioral health crisis,” Bennet wrote.

The bill was passed in the wake of the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in May. Lawmakers have also emphasized the need to increase support to kids with pandemic-related stress.

Bennet notes that, in his home state in 2021, Children’s Hospital Colorado declared a “state of emergency” for youth mental health.

And bipartisan action in Congress could be ahead. Bennet’s letter comes after he and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) released a white paper last year with a plan to “reimagine” mental health care in the U.S.

The plan outlines four steps to reform the standing system: Pass a rapid response to the current crisis, rethink how the federal government interacts with local partners for mental health care, redesign funding and delivery systems and reevaluate programs into the future.

One bipartisan bill on mental health has already been introduced. The Mental Health Reform Reauthorization Act of 2022, introduced in May, could also be on the horizon. Should it pass, it would renew and modify grants for mental health care through 2027.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and cosponsored by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), has been referred to the Senate HELP committee.