Washington — A gun safety law passed by the Senate late Thursday will expand eligibility for a mental health program prepared by Michigan Senator Debbie Stabeno to all states.
The vote was 65 to 33, as 15 Republican senators voted with Democrats to support the package, hailed as the most important firearms legislation in 30 years. The House of Representatives is expected to adopt the legislation early Friday.
The Stabenow measure, co-written by Senator Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri, compensates states through Medicaid for mental health and addiction services provided at federally qualified community health clinics that must provide 24-hour crisis services, among other elements.
“We know that more than half of all firearm deaths are suicides and that people with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrate it,” Stabeno said in a statement after the vote.
“This act builds on my transformative behavioral health care initiative to provide high-quality mental health and addiction services to communities across the country to provide people with the care they need as part of the health care system.”
The program began in 2016 with eight funded states, and two more states were added in 2020, including Michigan. Those states will get four more years of participation in the program under the legislation passed Thursday, according to Stabenow’s office. The bill also provides $40 million for planning grants for new states in the program.
This week, Stabeno said more than 435 clinics are part of the program across the country now, including individual clinics that can apply to join. Anyone can go to an approved community behavioral health clinic for care, whether or not they have insurance.
“Everyone always says, OK, a big part of the (gun violence) problem here is that the mental health delivery system isn’t working,” Blunt told reporters this week.
“So we were able to go back and say, look, we’ve got examples from 10 states and 30 more where it’s not just working but they know it’s working. Let’s go ahead and expand.”
The Stabenow-Blunt action is part of a broader Senate deal negotiated in the aftermath of the Ovaldi, Texas mass shooting. Buffalo, New York; and the November 30 shooting at Oxford High School in Oakland County, which killed four students.
The bill includes funding for anti-violence efforts, mental health centers in schools and support for suicide hotlines.
It will also enhance background checks for gun purchasers under the age of 21 and facilitate gun seizures from people who threaten to kill themselves or others in states that adopt such initiatives, as well as people who have committed domestic violence.
The bill also addresses gun smuggling, and expands people who need to register as a federal firearms dealer; Including so-called “straw purchases” when someone buys a gun for another person.
“I’m in the camp saying it’s not enough” to address gun violence, Stabeno said Thursday on MSNBC. “But I think that’s a step we can take now. In terms of mental health, it’s a huge step.”
Stabenow introduced the Mental Health Excellence Act with Blunt in 2013. The impetus was a desire to change the funding model for community mental health and addiction treatment so that it is not limited to grants that “start and stop” but as part of the health care system.
The program has established federal standards for participating clinics to meet high standards of quality and service delivery including 24-hour crisis psychological care, outpatient services, spot check-ups, risk assessments, and integrated substance abuse treatment assistance.
The model aims to keep those who need treatment out of prisons and hospitals, and off the streets, with the goal of reducing cost and burdens on prisons, police and emergency rooms.
Stabenow highlighted data from the US Department of Health and Human Services showing that those receiving services from an accredited community-based behavioral health clinic program for six months or more had a 63% reduction in emergency room visits for behavioral health issues, and a 60% reduction in time spent in prison and a 41% reduction in homelessness among clients.
The Congressional Budget Office said expanding the program to all states would cost more than $8 billion.