MAMH Blog
A Federal Policy Update from MAMH
Sep 2, 2025
MAMH remains laser focused on our mission and grounded in our values. Despite policies of the Federal Administration eroding access to basic needs and human rights, we will work without reserve to ensure people get the care that they need.
For 112 years, MAMH and our partners have worked to advance positive mental health, end stigma and discrimination, and ensure full inclusion for people with behavioral health conditions in all aspects of community life. We successfully leverage times of progress to expand access to services and supports and work hard to preserve, protect, and advance these gains when confronted by significant threats in the broader social, economic, or political environments.
The policies of the Federal Administration are eroding access to basic needs and human rights. During these challenging times, MAMH remains laser focused on our mission and grounded in our values. We will work without reserve to ensure people with behavioral health conditions and their families get the care that they need. Likewise, we will stay in close communication with you about the issues we are following, the steps we are taking, and how you can get involved. If you're not already on our list, subscribe to our newsletter - it's the premier source for the latest legislative developments, opportunities for civic engagement, and the latest news and research.
Housing
On July 24, 2025, the President signed an Executive Order that casts people who are unhoused as “a threat to public safety.” It calls for homeless sweeps and prosecution. It encourages “maximally flexible civil commitment” and “institutional treatment” for individuals that have been failed by our broken housing and health care systems, rather than holding those systems accountable to provide more responsive services to vulnerable people with complex needs. It encourages a reversal of judicial precedents and the termination of consent decrees, which protect human rights and access to services. The Executive Order instructs the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to stop funding harm reduction interventions, credited with saving countless lives. Finally, it calls for an end to support for “Housing First,” a model that recognizes the critical importance of housing to recovery, and has been documented to reduce total health care utilization and costs for people who are chronically homeless.
As an executive member of the Supportive Housing Pipeline Coalition, MAMH was a signatory on a statement that responded to the President’s Executive Order. We will continue to work with the Coalition on implementation of Supportive Housing Pool Fund that was recently created in the Affordable Homes Act to finance and scale up supportive housing opportunities across the Commonwealth. MAMH will also continue to pursue funding for the Department of Mental Health (DMH) Safe Haven program, which provides low-threshold housing to people who are chronically unhoused, have severe and disabling behavioral health conditions, and often have significant histories of trauma. Finally, we are working in close partnership with our colleagues at Mental Health America and around the country to develop strategies to protect the rights of people who are homeless with severe and disabling mental health and substance use health conditions.
Access to Health Care, Including Mental Health Care
On July 4, 2025, the President signed the budget reconciliation bill (which he called the “Big Beautiful Bill”) into law. As a result, about 326,000 people in Massachusetts – close to 5% of our state’s population – will lose their health insurance coverage.
Currently, people are required to renew their eligibility for MassHealth every 12 months. The budget reconciliation bill now requires states to conduct Medicaid eligibility determinations every six months. Additional paperwork requirements can cause people to lose coverage if they miss or don’t receive notices in the mail or have difficulty submitting renewals due to language or literacy barriers. Even short breaks in coverage can affect health care access and outcomes, particularly for people disabled by their behavioral health conditions. As a member of the Massachusetts Coalition for Coverage and Care, MAMH will continue to stay abreast of the implications of biannual redeterminations and how we can prevent people from experiencing gaps in coverage.
The budget reconciliation bill also requires adults receiving Medicaid to work at least 80 hours per month or attend school at least half-time. Research shows that most adults with Medicaid already work or face barriers to work (not working due to caregiving, illness, or disability) and that such work requirements do not result in increased employment rates. None the less, the budget reconciliation bill does exempt some populations with special medical needs including individuals with disabling mental health conditions; individuals with substance use conditions; individuals with physical, intellectual, or developmental disabilities; and people with serious or complex medical conditions. MAMH will work with Mental Health America to better understand these exemptions, and MassHealth as the law directs states to use available information when possible to verify exemptions without requiring additional paperwork from individuals.
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Expansion Funds
In late March/early April 2025, the federal Administration cut remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for two important programs:
- First Episode Psychosis (FEP) Programs - Acting quickly to connect an individual with the right treatment during early psychosis or FEP can be life-changing and radically alter a person’s future. DMH contracts with numerous providers across the state to offer FEP treatment. Some expansions to FEP programs were planned with ARPA dollars, but funding for these expansions was taken away.
- Stipends for students – DMH offers stipends to students training in behavioral health professions in return for a work commitment. These stipends help recruit and retain a talented and diverse behavioral health workforce for the Commonwealth. Remaining ARPA dollars budgeted for student stipends were also eliminated.
MAMH continues to monitor funding coming to Massachusetts through SAMHSA, including through the Mental Health Block Grant. DMH did receive $3M in the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) State Budget to administer a loan forgiveness and tuition reimbursement program for clinical behavioral health workers, including but not limited to nurse practitioners, psychologists, psychiatrists, peer counselors, and behavioral health navigators. While this is different than the student stipends eliminated by the federal government, these dollars in the FY26 State Budget will help DMH with workforce recruitment and retention.
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