{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-announces-inclusion-of-mental-health-reform-to-the-21st-century-cures-package", "Cassidy Announces Inclusion of Mental Health Reform to the 21st Century Cures Package", "2016-11-25", "2016", "2016-11", "Republican", "House", "LA", "Bill Cassidy", "C001075", "www.cassidy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.25.16\n\t\t\t Cassidy Announces Inclusion of Mental Health Reform to the 21st Century Cures Package \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON\u2014Today,\u00a0US Senator Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA) announced the inclusion of comprehensive mental health reform in the\u00a021st\u00a0Century Cures Act.\r\n\u201cOur mental health system is broken\u2014the inclusion of the pillars of my mental health reform bill in the 21st\u00a0Century Cures Act is the next step in getting it fixed,\u201d\u00a0said Dr. Cassidy.\u00a0\u201cBy making resources available for patients and families, we can help prevent more promising lives from being destroyed by untreated mental illness.\u201d\r\nDr. Cassidy has been a leader on comprehensive mental health care reform in the Senate. Last March, Dr. Cassidy along with Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Chris Murphy (D-CT), introduced the\u00a0Mental Health Reform Act of 2016\u00a0to the United States Senate.\r\n\r\nDr. Cassidy has also been an longtime advocate for mental health reform, speaking on the floor to urge his colleagues to support much needed legislation. More on his remarks\u00a0here.\r\n\r\nIn 2015, Senator Cassidy and Murphy wrote an\u00a0Op-Ed\u00a0in The Hill on their plan for mental health reform.\r\n\u00a0\r\nThe\u00a0full\u00a021st Century Cures Act\u00a0legislation can be read\u00a0here.\r\n\u00a0\r\nSome of the key provisions Dr. Cassidy fought for include:\r\n\u00b7\u00a0Strengthening leadership and accountability at HHS by creating an Assistant Secretary of Mental Health and improving interdepartmental activities related to those with serious mental illness\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u00b7\u00a0Promoting access to services through integration of primary and behavioral care for early identification and invention and increased availability of telehealth.\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u00b7\u00a0Ensuring that federal funded programs are evidence-based and use best practices.\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u00b7\u00a0 Providing incentives to build an adequate and skilled mental health workforce.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n  \n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-announces-inclusion-of-mental-health-reform-to-the-21st-century-cures-package"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8825771510601044, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}