WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) today lauded recent progress of mental health reform in Congress.

“Every American family knows someone whose life has been affected by mental illness, and it’s time for Congress to finally get serious about fixing our broken mental health care system,” said Murphy and Cassidy. “There is momentum behind this effort now, but the two of us won’t rest until we get a bipartisan bill signed into law.”

The bill is currently cosponsored by U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.), U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.), U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (D-W.Va.), U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-Ark.), U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

The Murphy-Cassidy legislation was recently endorsed by the American Medical Association (AMA), which wrote: “This comprehensive legislation makes significant reforms to our current mental health delivery system, which we believe would help to provide access to, and improve treatment for, millions of Americans who suffer from mental illness and substance use disorders.”

The AMA endorsement came on the heels of a letter from the Mental Health Liaison Group urging the Senate Help, Education, Labor and Pensions to take up the Mental Health Reform Act of 2015. The Mental Health Liaison Group is a coalition of top mental health providers and patients, including the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, Mental Health America, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the National Council for Behavioral Health, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and Treatment Communities of America.

Mental Health Reform Act in the news…

Washington Post: “Months of deadly mass shootings have prompted renewed momentum in Congress for mental health reform, advocates and lawmakers say. On Tuesday, more than 30 mental health and medical organizations sent a letter to HELP Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and ranking minority-party member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) calling for a greater effort ‘to provide more effective prevention measures, more timely access, and improve the continuity of care within our mental health system.’”

The Hill: “The bipartisan duo of Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) is seeing some momentum in an effort to reform the mental healthcare system, giving hope to House members who have long failed to advance a similar bill.”

National Journal: “Men­tal health care re­form has been on the HELP Com­mit­tee’s radar all year, but pres­sure to act has in­creased after a vi­ol­ent sum­mer with sev­er­al tra­gic mass shoot­ings. No wit­nesses have yet been con­firmed for the hear­ing, but the pan­el is hop­ing to hear from the Obama ad­min­is­tra­tion.”

Washington Post: “Advocates, lawmakers see momentum for mental-health reform in Congress.”

POLITICO: “The Senate HELP Committee holds its first mental health hearing of the year this morning. We’re expecting HELP Committee members Sens. Chris Murphy and Bill Cassidy to discuss their mental health reform bill — which is expected to be marked up early next year.”

Morning Consult: “Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman, said his committee could mark-up the Cassidy-Murphy bill early next year.”

Bloomberg: “In August, Cassidy and Murphy introduced the Mental Health Reform Act (S. 1945), which was then referred to the HELP Committee. Alexander also acknowledged Cassidy and Murphy's bill in his opening remarks and said he expects the HELP Committee to report additional legislation on mental health issues in the coming months.”

New Orleans Advocate: “When is a gun violence bill not a gun violence bill? When it is legislation likely to get a political lift from concerns about mass shootings, but it is not specifically intended to address firearms issues. Such is the case with the Mental Health Reform Act of 2015, a bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy that aims to overhaul the care and treatment of the mentally ill. Cassidy, a gastroenterologist from Baton Rouge, is a conservative Republican, but the bill’s lead co-sponsor is Christopher Murphy, a progressive Democrat from Connecticut; eight other co-sponsors include David Vitter, R-Metairie, and four additional Democrats. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which includes Cassidy and Murphy, held a hearing on the bill Thursday, and afterward, Cassidy and Murphy hosted a conference call with reporters.”

Hartford Courant: “For the first time since the 2012 Sandy Hook school shootings, the U.S. Senate on Thursday held a hearing on legislation to overhaul the nation's mental health system. ‘The train is officially out of the station and on the tracks,’' Sen. Chris Murphy declared on Thursday, shortly after the hearing adjourned. ‘We could perhaps pass the most comprehensive mental health reform ... since the 1960s.’”

Think Progress: “But new legislation introduced by Senators Chris Murphy (D) and Bill Cassidy (R) may be able to break this divide. The bill follows the same outline as a 2013 GOP-led House bill, but cuts the controversial provisions concerning privacy rights — and may ultimately bring both parties to consensus.”

Modern Healthcare: “Two senators pushing a mental-health reform bill said after a Senate committee hearing on the bill Thursday that they believe their legislation and its House companion bill can draw bipartisan support and pass this session.”

Newsday: “For those of us who are horrified by the inaction over mental health care -- especially since the killings of 20 schoolchildren by a seriously disturbed man in Newtown, Connecticut -- good news arrived this week. Legislation that would overhaul how our country handles serious mental illness is getting traction after languishing for nearly two years.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “The Senate bill, introduced by Sens. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., seeks, among many things, changes in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, whose privacy protections are blamed by many families for keeping them in the dark about the nature and treatment of their loved one’s illness. Both bills take on the highly contentious political issues of privacy, involuntary treatment and expansion of Medicaid to pay for inpatient treatment in hospitals (an idea fought by mental health advocates who fear it will take money away from the community-based treatment they champion).”