Tonko bill will look at impacts of COVID on mental health
WASHINGTON » After introducing a bill to fund research into the effects COVID-19 has had on the mental health of Americans, Rep. Paul Tonko and Senate sponsor Sen. Amy Klobuchar held a virtual press conference last week to discuss the need for the legislation.
The bill was introduced in the House on March 9 by Tonko, D-Amsterdam, and Rep. John Katko, R-Syracuse. The House bill found support in the Senate from Klobuchar, D-Minn. and fellow Democrat Sen. Timothy Klaine, D-Va.
As part of the March 11 press conference, Tonko and Klobuchar were joined by supporting health professionals from their respective states who gave examples of just how badly the bill is needed.
In his opening remarks, Tonko referenced New York State’s Timothy’s Law, a bill from 2006 that requires health plans sold in the state to provide coverage for mental health ailments comparable to those for physical ailments. Tonko was a sponsor of the bill while a member of the state Assembly.
With his House bill, Tonko and the other legislators want to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct or support research on the mental health consequences of COVID-19.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years since Timothy’s Law was passed but it has stayed with me for all these years that mental health support saves lives,” Tonko said. “While we’ve made extraordinary strides in mental health care the work is far from finished. We need to understand the toll this pandemic has taken on every American, especially our kids and our health care workers.”
The Mental Health Search Act (H.R.1716) will examine the mental health impacts COVID-19 has had on everyday Americans but especially on those in the medical profession, first responders, and children.
According to Tonko, the CDC reports that emergency visits for children ages 12 to 17 increased 31 percent from March to October 2020 when compared to the prior year.
The bill will provide $100 million a year for five years to the Mental Health Institute to carry out the research.
“We need to know what they are going through, Tonko said. “We need to take steps to help people like Timothy and that’s what our bill does; it takes the first big step in researching something we know is out there. We want to develop hope and understanding in developing a path forward for those Americans who need it most.”
In her remarks, Klobuchar noted the imminent signing of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Act, legislation she said will help many Americans but not all. There are some, she said, who cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel due to the impacts of the COVID pandemic.
“We can’t just close our eyes to this situation and say this is great, everyone can get out of their house or go on a plane again,” she said. “You can see the emotional stress throughout my state.”
Klobuchar gave an example of a man she knows who attends Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, but due to the pandemic, the meetings have been virtual. Virtual meetings he told her are not the same in the world of AA as in-person meetings.
“That’s what this bill is all about, assessing the impacts and figuring out what we need to do to help people,” she said. “I took this issue on in my presidential campaign. If we as leaders don’t talk about this hard stuff then how can people expect to get help when they need it?”
She added that the help she and Tonko are seeking has to start big and it has to come from Washington D.C.
Joining the press conference to lend their expertise and support were health care experts Sue Abderholden, Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Minn., Dr. Brenda Robinson, RN, CEO of the Black Nurses Coalition and Chair of the City of Albany’s Commission on Human Rights, Glenn Liebman, CEO Mental Health Association in New York State, and Andrea Smyth, Executive Director of New York State coalition for children’s Behavioral Health.
In their remarks, each gave examples of how numerous individuals in their respective fields, patients as well as staff, have been impacted by the pandemic.
Abderholden described the phones at her clinic going silent when the pandemic only to start ringing again when it became clear the crisis would not be short-lived. The staff, she said, began hearing from people across a very wide spectrum.
“We have never experienced anything of this magnitude for this long of a time that has affected so many people,” she said. “It’s important to ensure there aren’t long-lasting impacts to our mental health. Research brings hope and hope is what we need right now.”
Robinson read an extended list of the very personal ways in which frontline health care workers have been impacted by the pandemic. The impacts came from family members’ pleas to stay home, grieving families that have lost loved ones, seeing suffering that couldn’t be lessened, and watching too many of their patients die in front of their eyes.
“This pandemic has made us pay the price mentally and emotionally,” she said.
Liebman described the pandemic as two wars being fought simultaneously. One is being waged to limit the number of deaths while the other is being fought on the mental health front.
“This legislation will validate what is happening,” he said. “This will give us the research and the resources necessary.
Smyth noted that the pandemic has brought loss, loneliness, disruption, hunger, and despair to many families.
“If we fall short in addressing the trauma that children have endured after the last 12 months, their futures will be compromised.
We have to get the response right,” she said.
Tonko sees the bill as a blueprint for giving direction on how to best use the resources that are needed.
“The pain out there is very real and needs a response that is best-guided and best-planned to attempt relief and understand the stressors on our mental health,” he said.