Finance Committee Announces Next Steps on Mental Health Effort

Chairman Announces Bipartisan Co-Chairs for Five Areas of Focus, Goal for Summer Legislation

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) today outlined the committee’s next steps as it continues to work to address the shortfalls in America’s mental health care system.

“With today’s hearing, the Finance Committee is ramping up our legislative efforts as a group. Several of our members have graciously agreed to partner on specific policy challenges, one Democrat and one Republican. The goal is to produce a bipartisan bill this summer that brings together all that work,” Wyden said.

The announcement was made during a hearing with U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy on youth mental health care. The co-chairs, listed below, will work together and with committee staff on a bipartisan basis to identify legislative steps to improve the mental health care system.

Focus Areas	Co-Chairs
Strengthening the workforce	Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Steve Daines (R-MT)
Increasing integration, coordination and access to care	Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and John Cornyn (R-TX)
Ensuring parity between behavioral and physical health care	Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Richard Burr (R-NC)
Furthering the use of telehealth	Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and John Thune (R-SD)
Improving access to behavioral health care for children and young people	Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA)

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