{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-introduces-bill-to-expand-mental-health-care-for-seniors/", "Cassidy Introduces Bill to Expand Mental Health Care for Seniors", "2026-03-18", "2026", "2026-03", "Republican", "Senate", "LA", "Bill Cassidy", "C001075", "www.cassidy.senate.gov", "cassidy", "https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) introduced the Removing Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Limitations Act to eliminate the Medicare 190-day lifetime cap on inpatient psychiatric care.\n\n\u201cLouisiana seniors deserve easier access to the care they need,\u201d said Dr. Cassidy. \u201cBy removing barriers to mental health care, we\u2019re making their lives easier and providing peace of mind for their families.\u201d\n\nUnder Section 1812 of the Social Security Act, inpatient psychiatric care under Medicare is limited to 190 days over a lifetime. The Removing Medicare Mental Health Impatient Limitations Act would erase this cap, ensuring seniors have complete and uninterrupted access to the mental health care they need.\n\nThe Removing Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Limitations Act is supported by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Legal Action Center, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, Mental Health America, American Nurses Association, American Psychiatric Association, REDC Consortium, Oceans Healthcare, and the Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy & Action.\n\n\u201cMedicare\u2019s 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric care is an outdated policy that creates an arbitrary barrier we would never accept for patients with cancer or any other chronic disease \u2014 and patients with serious behavioral health needs deserve no less. As Louisiana\u2019s leading provider of inpatient psychiatric services, Oceans Healthcare has witnessed this inequity firsthand and Senator Cassidy\u2019s bill is an important step in patient care, and we urge Congress to move it forward,\u201d said Stuart Archer, CEO of Oceans Healthcare.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-03-30T11:08:25Z"]], "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-introduces-bill-to-expand-mental-health-care-for-seniors/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8178511634469032, "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"}