Support MAMH's work to ensure that individuals across the lifespan have access to the supports and services they need to promote positive mental health and overall well being!
See how you can help with MAMH's most urgent priorities!
MAMH's FY25 state budget priorities benefits people with mental health conditions!
LEARN MOREMAMH's legislative agenda for 2023-24 supports four main goals - expanding access, promoting well being, legal reform, and workforce development. With a focus on prevention and parity, MAMH staff and partners will work closely with legislators on bills to advance each of these priorities.
You can make a difference by contacting your legislators today and encouraging them to support the goals that matter to you!
MAMH joins advocates, providers, and people with lived experience across the Commonwealth in opposing involuntary outpatient commitment in the Commonwealth. Learn more here about H.1694/S.980 and why we oppose these bills. Find a more detailed examination of the problem here.
| Legislation | Description | More Information |
|---|---|---|
S.1248, An Act to increase investment in behavioral health care in the Commonwealth |
Behavioral health services have long been underfunded, leaving individuals without access to timely care. This bill creates a timeline and process for increasing investment in behavioral health expenditures in the Commonwealth, while keeping within total health care expenditures (TCHE), a measure of total health care spending. |
|
H.989 & S.610, An Act for supportive care for serious mental illness |
This bill requires commercial insurers to cover Coordinated Specialty Care, a recovery-oriented treatment program for people with first episode psychosis, and Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT), a team-based, evidenced-based program offering treatment, rehabilitation, and support services in community settings. |
|
H.1142 & S.667, An Act to prohibit cost sharing for opioid antagonists |
To help prevent opioid overdoses, this bill requires MassHealth, the Group Insurance Commission, and private insurance carriers regulated by the Division of Insurance to cover opioid antagonists (naloxone) without patient cost sharing. |
| Legislation | Description | More Information |
|---|---|---|
H.497 & S.240, An Act relative to the promotion of mental health education |
A significant and growing number of youth are experiencing mental health issues. This bill will require K-12 schools to provide mental health education to students. |
Bill (House) |
| Legislation | Description | More Information |
|---|---|---|
H.1460, An Act Relative to reforming the competency to stand trial process |
Criminal defendants, waiting for evaluations of their competency to stand trial (CST), fill our psychiatric hospital beds and leave psychiatric patients waiting in emergency departments (EDs). This bill allows the Department of Mental Health (DMH) to move forensic patients more efficiently through the competency evaluation and restoration processes. |
You can also view the list of bills where MAMH is leading advocacy efforts here.
You can also view the list of bills that MAMH is supporting with our advocacy partners here.
For more information on MAMH's legislative agenda for 2023-24, contact Jennifer Honig and Jessica Larochelle, MAMH Co-Directors of Public Policy and Government Relations: jenniferhonig@mamh.org and jessicalarochelle@mamh.org
MAMH is proud to join the nation’s leading mental health advocacy organizations in calling for policy, programs, and standards that prioritize mental health care and address the social and economic conditions that contribute to mental health conditions. Read our Our Unified Vision for Transforming Mental Health and Substance Use Care!