House Energy & Commerce Committee Markup Information

The House Energy & Commerce Committee held a markup of 30 health-related bills. Of note, the Committee favorably reported the following bills out of the Committee and to the full House of Representatives.

1. Strengthening Behavioral Parity Act (H.R. 7539), with technical amendments. The legislation would increase parity in mental health and substance use disorder by limiting aggregate lifetime limits on mental health and substance use disorder benefits to better ensure coverage. The legislation would require that the financial requirements for mental health or substance use disorder benefits be no more restrictive than the financial requirements for medical or surgical benefits, requiring availability of certain plan information, and more.
2. Suicide Prevention Lifeline Improvement Act of 2019 (H.R. 4564). The legislation would ensure the provision of high-quality service through the Suicide Prevention Lifeline by clearly defining and measuring performance indicators and objectives to improve the responsiveness and performance of the hotline and quantifying time frames to track the progress of the hotline in meeting such performance indicators and objectives, as well as setting other standards that crisis centers and backup centers must meet. This legislation also appropriates $5,000,000 to establish a pilot program to research, analyze, and employ technologies and platforms of communication for suicide prevention. Lastly, this legislation requires an HHS study and report on the implementation of this bill and a GAO study and report on the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
3. Campaign to Prevent Suicide Act (H.R. 4585), as amended. The legislation would require the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct a national prevention media campaign to prevent suicide in the U.S., educating families, friends, and communities on how to address suicide and suicidal thoughts, and increasing suicide prevention resources of the CDC and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA).
4. Suicide Prevention Act (H.R. 5619), as amended. The legislation would authorize a pilot program to expand and intensify surveillance of self-harm in partnership with state and local public health departments and would provide suicide prevention services in hospital emergency departments. This legislation would appropriate $30,000,000 to establish a grant program to provide self-harm and suicide prevention services.
5. National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2019, (H.R. 4194), as amended. This legislation would direct the Federal Communications Commission to designate ‘9-8-8’ as the universal telephone number for the national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system operating through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and through the Veterans Crisis Line.