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Senate Bill Would Improve Mental Health Services on College Campuses
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced legislation on July 23rd to improve mental health services on college campuses. The Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act (S. 3311) creates a competitive grant program that would provide funding to colleges to focus on both outreach to identify students with mental health needs and treatment of students coming to counseling centers for help. The grant program is modeled on the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program (ESSCP), which provides competitive grants to K-12 schools to hire more school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers.
“The shootings at Northern Illinois University and Virginia Tech focused national attention on college campuses and the challenges of identifying students who need mental health services,” said Durbin. “Colleges are encountering students who 10 to 20 years ago would not have been able to attend school because of mental illness, but who can do so today because of advances in treatment. Unfortunately today, there is very little federal help available for colleges to expand their mental health services and outreach programs. My legislation seeks to change that.”
A survey by the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors found colleges on average have just one counselor for every 1,941 students. At the same time, incidents of mental illness among students are reaching new heights with ten percent of college students having contemplated suicide and forty-five percent having felt so depressed they found it difficult to function.
Numerous studies and anecdotal evidence have shown the benefits of specific counseling services and programs. In a 4-year study of college students who received counseling from CAPS, 91% thought that their academic performance had improved following counseling. 98% of these students recorded that counseling had assisted them to deal more effectively with their problems.
Senator Durbin’s legislation would ensure that colleges and universities have the resources and support they need to add personnel and aid students at a vulnerable time in their development by:
- Establishing a grant program within the Department of Education to assist colleges and universities in providing direct mental health services and outreach to students, families, and staff to increase awareness of mental health issues. The funds may also be used to hire staff and expand mental health training opportunities.
- Calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create a public health awareness campaign around mental health and to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness for students. CDC would be required to seek input from national mental and behavioral health organizations and colleges and universities.
- Providing federal leadership by establishing an interagency working group on college mental health to discuss mental and behavioral health concerns and promote federal agency collaboration to support innovations in mental health services and supports for students on college and university campuses.
What You Can Do
Call or email your U.S. Senators and ask them to cosponsor S. 3311, the Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act. First, however, use the link here to find out if your Senator is already a cosponsor. You can find out who your Senators are and email them by visiting the ACA internet legislative action center at http://capwiz.com/counseling and entering your zip code in the box indicated. Or you can contact your Senator by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and asking for his or her office.
SUGGESTED MESSAGE: “As your constituent, and as a mental health counselor, I urge you to co-sponsor and support S. 3311, the Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act, introduced recently by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). This legislation would create a competitive grant program that would provide funding to colleges to focus on both outreach to identify students with mental health needs and treatment of students coming to counseling centers for help.
A survey by the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors found colleges on average have just one counselor for every 1,941 students. At the same time, incidents of mental illness among students are reaching new heights with ten percent of college students having contemplated suicide and forty-five percent having felt so depressed they found it difficult to function.Numerous studies and anecdotal evidence have shown the benefits of specific counseling services and programs.
Your leadership and support for providing the appropriate counseling resources to our nation’s colleges and universities is greatly appreciated. With your support, together we can impact the lives of million of students, their families, and the communities they call home.”
For more information, contact Chris Campbell at 800-347-6647, ext. 241, or by e-mail at: ccampbell@counseling.org.
Medicare Mental Health Copay Parity Becomes Law After Veto Override
A few hours after the president vetoed H.R. 6331, Medicare reform legislation, on Tuesday the Congress easily achieved the two-thirds majority needed to override his veto, with the House of Representatives voting 383-41 to enact the legislation and the Senate following suit by a 70-26 vote. The president sought to stall the legislation, which postponed a significant pay cut for Medicare physicians, because it reduced payments to private sector “Medicare Advantage” plans, which are paid on average nearly 15% more than traditional Medicare to cover enrollees’ health care.
Physicians were schedule to take a 10.6% pay cut on July 1, but the passage of H.R. 6331 freezes payments for the rest of 2008 and increases them by 1.1% in 2009. The patch unfortunately expires in 2010 when physicians are scheduled to take a 20% pay cut.
The legislation also took an initial step toward improving Medicare’s outdated mental health benefit, which has remained largely unchanged since 1965, by reducing the discriminatory 50% copayment requirement for outpatient psychotherapy to the same 20% copayment required for all other medical services. In order to defer costs, the reduction will be phased in over six years; beneficiaries will continue to pay a 50% copay until 2010 and will then pay 45% in 2010 and 2011, 40% in 2012, 35% in 2013, and 20% starting in 2014.
ACA applauds Congress’ efforts to secure Medicare’s future by making the program more fiscally sound and addressing mental health discrimination. Nevertheless, we have been vocal about the importance of establishing Medicare coverage of licensed professional counselors. We will be working diligently over the coming months to significantly increase support in Congress—and from grassroots counselors—for making this important change.
For more information, please contact Peter Atlee of ACA (patlee@counseling.org or 800-347-6647 x242) or Beth Powell of AMHCA (bpowell@amhca.org or 800-326-2642 x105).
Physicians for a National Health Program
An Open Letter To The Candidates
On Single Payer Health Reform