President Joe Biden will use his second State of the Union speech Tuesday night to announce policies that expand upon existing mental health strategies for patients and healthcare workers. .
The president is expected to announce the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s plan to provide mental health resources to healthcare organizations to support workers. The Department of Health and Human Services also plans to expand funding to recruit mental health workers from Historically Black Universities and Colleges.
The administration cited the need for initiatives in part as a result of nearly 54% of nurses and doctors suffering from burnout. In a White House fact sheet released on Tuesday before the speech, it also cited a behavioral health workforce shortage.
The president will also propose rules this spring that would require health plans to pay mental health providers in line with other clinicians while improving the ability to access to care.
“We know that too many insurers don’t follow the rules and they put barriers to patient access that shouldn’t be there, and contribute to the fact that on average it takes more than a decade to people, Christen Linke Young, the president’s deputy aide for health and veterans affairs, said on a call with reporters Tuesday.
Biden will also call on HHS to improve its 988 suicide prevention hotline, which was launched last year. HHS will employ more trained colleagues, licensed first responders, counselors and psychologists, develop mobile intervention services, and prioritize mental health research. Biden is also directing the department to expand telehealth services by tripling its resources for interstate licensing reciprocity for mental health services provided. across many states.
Under Biden’s direction, the Department of Veterans Affairs will make available a new nationwide network of behavioral health clinicians for those enrolled in VA healthcare. The administration also aims to add 350 mental health professionals at VA medical centers across the country over the next seven years.
The president will also expand the Moonshot Cancer Initiative to cut cancer deaths in half within 25 years. The administration will promote health plans that pay for cancer patient navigation services to guide patients and families in screening, diagnosis, and treatment. It also wants Congress to reauthorize the National Cancer Act to further invest in the country’s cancer research and aim to establish clinical trial networks, create new data systems and encourage sharing. information sharing.
In his speech last year, the president announced measures to crack down on the nursing home industry. In January, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began examining nursing homes to determine if residents taking antipsychotics were correctly diagnosed with schizophrenia. The agency also launched a public database in September to track ownership of 15,000 skilled nursing facilities.
