WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and U.S. Representatives Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) introduced the Closing Health Coverage Gaps for Public Servants Act, legislation to close a critical gap in health insurance coverage for mental health and substance use disorders treatment for frontline workers. The bill would sunset the ability for self-funded, nonfederal governmental health care plans that cover firefighters, police, public school teachers, and city and state workers to opt-out of federal parity requirements for behavioral health care. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 180 out of the 181 of these plans that have an opt-out do not have mental health and substance use disorder parity protections. This legislation would also expand coverage for post-mastectomy reconstructive breast surgery, mother and newborn standards, and dependent students on a medically necessary leave of absence.

“Everyone deserves access to mental health care – especially our teachers, firefighters, police, and public servants who have been on the frontlines of the pandemic. This legislation brings more health care plans into compliance with federal protections like mental health and substance use disorder parity laws and closes a loophole that has allowed government-run plans to deny coverage for critical health care services. Mental health is just as important as physical health, and this is a simple step to make sure more people get the care they need,” said Murphy.

“No person struggling with mental health issues or addiction should go without the treatment they need because an insurance company won’t cover it. Health care is health care – whether it is above the neck or below the neck. Our bill would make sure that workers get comprehensive coverage of mental health and addiction treatment and other critical services,” said Stabenow.

“Mental health care is health care, and it’s unacceptable that some health plans don’t treat it that way,” said Porter. “We owe it to teachers, firefighters, and other public servants, who have been on the frontlines of the pandemic, to remove the unfair barriers they face getting the care they need. I’m proud to join Congresswoman Dingell and Senators Murphy and Stabenow in introducing this legislation to make it easier for public service workers to get necessary mental health treatment.”

“Our nation is in the midst of a significant mental health and substance use disorder crisis that has disproportionately impacted frontline workers and been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, for too long, these workers have lacked adequate health care coverage to obtain the treatment they need for mental health services due to loopholes in current laws,” said Dingell. “With the Closing Health Coverage Gaps for Public Servants Act, we will finally right this wrong and ensure our nation’s police, firefighters, public school teachers, and city and state workers have comprehensive healthcare coverage so they can get the care they deserve.”

“The nation’s mental health crisis has gotten even worse during these last two grueling years. And people who work in public service, who have been on the front lines of COVID response every single day, experiencing high stress levels and burnout, need access to mental health services more than ever. Getting rid of this discriminatory loophole and ensuring public service workers have equal access to mental health and substance abuse treatment is long overdue. On behalf of 1.4 million AFSCME members, many of whom also are mental and behavioral health professionals, I’m grateful to Sen. Chris Murphy, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Rep. Katie Porter and Rep. Debbie Dingell for introducing this fix,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders.

"It’s no secret that the work of educators is harder than ever, with increased stress, shortages, and political interference and attacks. We need to support them by giving them the resources to deal with their own trauma and the lingering effects of an extremely difficult two years. Senators Murphy and Stabenow and Representatives Porter and Dingell are helping to address this necessity by introducing the Closing Health Coverage Gaps for Public Servants Act, which helps provide educators access to the mental health support they and their families need," said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. 

“At a time in U.S. history when we have more than 100,000 people a year dying of drug overdoses, dire warnings about a youth mental health crisis from our Surgeon General, and clear data on the increasing prevalence of mental health disorders in adults, it is unfathomable to me that we still have major public employers opting out of parity,” said former U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, founder of The Kennedy Form and lead author of the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. "It’s time for state and local governments to walk the walk, not just talk the talk about whole-person health. Most Americans can’t afford to get help without equitable insurance coverage for mental health and addiction treatment. We need to right this wrong now.”

“For many years, people with mental health conditions could not get insurance coverage for their mental health treatment. Despite federal parity laws now in place, some state and local government health plans can opt out of mental health parity and other important health protections. This means that some frontline workers like police, firefighters and teachers don’t benefit from the protections of the mental health parity law. NAMI applauds Sen. Murphy for introducing this legislation to close this loophole and make sure more people get the mental health coverage they need,” said Daniel H. Gillison, Jr., CEO, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

“The choice to have a mastectomy and to feel comfortable post-mastectomy, whether that is through breast reconstruction or not, is something deeply personal for many breast cancer patients and we believe that needs to be decided by the patient and their provider, not by insurance coverage,” said Molly Guthrie, Senior Director for Public Policy and Advocacy at Susan G. Komen. “All breast cancer patients should have the right to full mastectomy care including reconstruction or custom breast prostheses without burdensome cost-sharing requirements. We’re grateful for Senator Murphy and Representative Porter’s leadership in removing barriers to reconstruction for all patients regardless of insurance type.”

The Closing Health Coverage Gaps for Public Servants Act is endorsed by AFSCME, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, American Society of Addiction Medicine, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, The Kennedy Forum, March of Dimes, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), National Association for Behavioral Healthcare, National Association of School Nurses, National Association of Social Workers (NASW), National Council for Mental Wellbeing, National Education Association (NEA), National Health Law Program, Mental Health America (MHA), Parity Enforcement Coalition, Partnership to End Addiction, School Social Work Association of America, Susan G. Komen.

Text of the bill is available here.

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