LEGISLATION TO EXPAND CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), members of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee,introduced the Supporting Children’s Mental Health Care Access Act, which would reauthorize the Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PMHCA) program for another five years to better promote the integration of behavioral health and primary care for children. The PMHCA program supports state or regional networks of pediatric mental health care teams to provide tele-consultation, training, technical assistance, and care coordination for pediatricians and other pediatric primary care providers to diagnose, treat, and refer children with behavioral health conditions. The bill would also expand the types of providers who can be part of the care team and add new sites where the…