Becerra Touts Mental Health, Addiction Treatment Funding; Calls for Telehealth Reform

In remarks at a Dec. 13 Brookings Institution event, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra touted the rollout of the 988 mental health assistance line and the Biden administration’s push for more mental health funding. In addition to promoting the administration’s victories, Becerra also reiterated the urgent need to recruit and retain burnt out practitioners. And he called on Congress to make pandemic-related emergency telehealth flexibilities permanent.   

The relatively low amount of available mental health care providers, particularly for youth and in rural areas, is a stubborn barrier to care that has frustrated health insurers that need to meet network adequacy requirements.