Mar 29, 2022
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) praises the significant mental health investments outlined in President Biden’s FY 2023 proposed budget released yesterday. As previewed in the President’s State of the Union address, the budget includes a variety of policy proposals that would increase access to mental health care.
“NAMI is grateful that the President’s budget includes such an unprecedented focus on mental health,” said NAMI CEO Daniel H. Gillison Jr. “From initiatives to address the acute shortage of mental health professionals to investments in youth mental health and 988 crisis response systems, this is the level of investment that our nation’s ongoing mental health crisis needs and deserves. We call upon Congress to pass a FY 2023 spending bill that recognizes the importance of this issue.”
Key mental health investments in the President’s FY 2023 proposed budget include:
- $697 million to the 988 and Behavioral Health Services program, including funding for local call centers, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and related crisis services — an increase of $590 million over FY 2022
- $1.653 billion for the Community Mental Health Block Grant, an increase of $795 million above FY 2022 enacted levels, including a 10% set-aside for evidence-based crisis care programs
- $7.5 billion in Medicaid to improve mental health provider capacity (over 10 years)
- $2.5 billion in bonus payments to states that improve mental health quality (over 10 years)
- Eliminating Medicare’s 190-day Lifetime Limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services
- Applying mental health parity protections to Medicare, which is not currently required, to offer equitable mental health and substance use treatment benefits
- Requiring all health insurance plans and issuers, including group health plans, to provide mental health and substance use disorder benefits
- $125 million to states to enforce mental health and substance use disorder parity requirements
- $553 million for the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHC) Expansion Grant program, an increase of $238 million over FY 2022, as well as opening participation in the CCBHC demonstration program to all states
- $2.11 billion for the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), including $10 million to support NIMH in studying the impact of social media on mental health and to support studies to inform mental health treatment approaches, service delivery and system transformation
- $1 billion in funding for the proposed School-Based Health Professionals (SBHP) program to double the number of school counselors, nurses, social workers and school psychologists over the next decade
- $13.9 billion for VA mental health care, up from $12.3 million in FY 2022 enacted funding, focused on increasing access to quality mental health care and lowering the cost of mental health services for veterans
- $80 million for the Housing for Persons with Disabilities (Section 811) Program to expand the supply of affordable housing for people with disabilities to live independently
“NAMI urges the House and Senate to prioritize mental health by enacting these key provisions of the President’s budget into law,” Gillison said. “We will continue to advocate for federal policymakers to take necessary actions to ensure people get help early, get the best possible care and get diverted from the criminal justice system.”
