Washington, D.C. – Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), a member of the House Rules Committee and Republican Leader of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, stressed the importance of addressing mental health in his opening remarks.

As Prepared for Delivery:

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate your willingness to work on a productive, bipartisan agenda for this subcommittee and respect of my request for a hearing on mental health and coronavirus. This was a topic that we were slated to address prior to the outbreak but has become even more serious. The human loss, job loss, and isolation that Americans have faced due to this pandemic makes this an even more critical topic.

Even at the beginning of this crisis, the American Psychiatric Association found that one-third of Americans felt it seriously affected their mental health. That reality compounded with the existing prevalence of mental health and substance use disorders makes this issue urgent.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in five American adults’ lives with mental illness. Ensuring proper supports are in place for people to manage and treat these illnesses should be a priority.

There are 22 bills before us today, many of which have bipartisan consensus. I appreciate that you included all the bills I mentioned in my letter, especially H.R. 3539, the Behavioral Interventions Guidelines Act, which I worked on with Dr. Drew Ferguson. We had successful behavioral intervention programs in schools in our states that inspired us to work together.

For me, it was hearing from leadership at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and their program to provide training for behavioral health intervention and telebehavioral health services at schools in rural West Texas. School-aged children are at a prime age to identify and treat behavioral health issues before they might worsen.

I believe this bill is even more important now. Students have been away from school and friends during a difficult time, and some may be dealing with the loss of loved ones or being home with a difficult family situation. I hope that we will advance this bill to markup.

Other bills cover a wide range of important issues from improving the national suicide prevention hotline to extending the authorization for the Community Services Block Grant  two years. These bills will ensure stable, high quality resources for those who need them. 

One issue not addressed today is the mental health of health care workers. This may be especially prevalent now, but I believe this has long been a serious issue in our health care system that deserves attention. 
 
I have concerns about the Medicare bills. I oppose opening Medicare’s definition of physician. I do support telemedicine, and it has been critical during COVID for many services, but we must make sure appropriate guardrails are in place to discourage waste, fraud or abuse, as noted by MedPAC, the Government Accountability Office, and the Inspector General. We also must seriously evaluate if resources are better focused getting psychologists and psychiatrists into underserved areas than expanding Medicare reimbursement to lesser trained health workers. 

I unfortunately also need to devote some time to process. There is a strong bipartisan commitment to improve our nation’s mental health. I am frustrated by the Majority’s unwillingness to make small changes to some bills to accommodate our concerns prior to this hearing, when compromise was clearly in sight. Majority staff acknowledged those changes would make progress much easier. Still, you introduced partisan bills when you knew you could secure Republican support. Unfortunately, this has become all too predictable in public health, which is sad since historically it is where this Subcommittee comes together to legislate the most.

It also concerns me that we are considering bills as introduced rather than language negotiated as part of bipartisan, bicameral efforts. I assume that you and Chairman Pallone still intend to adhere to our agreement on negotiated language. We are not interested in resetting the clock on our hard work.

This is not the first time the Majority has reneged on a deal. That makes it difficult for Members on this side of the dais to trust you and the deals we make. Ignoring our reasonable requests actively harms the legacy of this Committee and did not need to happen. I am puzzled why it did.

You should fully expect Members to file amendments should bills be brought to markup if you were unwilling to engage with our staff on them, refused to acknowledge our proactive outreach to you, or outright ignored our flagged concerns. My expectation for a supposedly noncontroversial virtual markup is that you will not notice these bills.

Many issues, but especially mental health, should rise above partisan politics. We should come together to change the landscape and provide much needed resources to individuals struggling with mental health issues.