“Hope Won” with Passage of HB 1013 in Georgia

Unanimous Vote in House and Senate for Legislation Focused on Making Mental Health Matter Signed into Law by Governor Brian Kemp

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To borrow a quote from House Speaker David Ralston, “Hope won” when HB 1013 – also known as the Mental Health Parity Act – passed through the Georgia General Assembly with a unanimous vote of 54-0 in the Senate and 166-0 in the House. A shining example that the legislative process really does work, a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into that bill long before it hit the Senate floor for final passage. Three years ago, we formally acknowledged the fact that Georgia is facing a mental health and addicted disease crisis, and in 2019, the General Assembly formed the Behavioral Health Reform Innovation Committee. The committee – made up of experts that included medical providers, law enforcement officials, educators, judges, behavioral health advocates and members of the State House and Senate – was charged with conducting a comprehensive review of behavioral health in Georgia. 

To help change perceptions, aid in our understanding of mental health and do the important work of revamping a broken health care system, I am proud and honored to serve as a member of the Georgia State Senate’s Mental Health Caucus. I commend Speaker Ralston and Representatives Mary Margaret Oliver and Todd Jones for filing HB1013. After that, one of the primary focuses for me and my fellow caucus members was to ensure that the bill was the best it could be once it left the Senate floor. I believe we accomplished that goal.

The “Why” Behind the Mental Health Parity Act

Encapsulating our emotional, psychological, and social well-being, mental health is integral to determining how we think, feel and act on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that mental illnesses are among the most common health conditions in the U.S. Of the more than 10.7 million people who live in Georgia, an estimated 10% have been diagnosed with a mental illness. And those statistics don’t account for our neighbors who are undiagnosed due to fear, lack of access to good doctors or perceived stigmas. Add to that those who suffer from substance abuse and addicted disease, and I’d say you’d be hard-pressed to find a Georgian whose life hasn’t been touched in one way or another by the ongoing mental health crisis. 

Sadly – even though federally mandated – not all insurance providers view mental health disorders through the same lens as physical illness, making it difficult for those suffering mental health or substance abuse disorders to receive the level of care they need.

What to Know About the Mental Health Parity Act

Marking one of the most important bipartisan bills of the 2021-2022 session, the 76-page Georgia Mental Health Parity Act seeks to provide comprehensive reforms for our state’s mental health care system and give Georgians struggling with mental illness and substance abuse the resources they need. Here are just a few of the bill’s most impactful measures:

• The requirement of health insurance plans, including our state health care plans, to cover and treat mental health and substance use disorders to the same degree as physical care, while extending this coverage to a spouse and dependents covered under the same health plan. 
• The development of Georgia’s mental health care workforce by authorizing cancelation of educational loans for Georgia residents who study to become mental health/medical professionals in pediatrics, family medicine, psychiatry, mental health and substance abuse care. In exchange, students must agree to practice within an approved geographical area of the state with the greatest need. 
• The creation of a network of local co-response teams, comprised of behavioral health professionals and peace officers, to respond to calls, promote pre-arrest diversion, enhance resources for frontline responders, and help keep Georgians with mental illness from entering our correctional system by connecting them with community-based treatment services. 
• The modification of how our law enforcement officers interact with individuals in a mental health crisis so that these individuals can receive an emergency evaluation from a mobile crisis team without being charged with a crime first.
• The establishment of a task force to help communities coordinate activities designed to keep patients with severe mental illness out of jails and detention facilities. 
• The authorization of Georgia’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council to create a grant program to fund accountability courts that serve those with mental health disorders. 
• A partnership between the Office of Health Strategy and Coordination (OHSC), the Department of Community Supervision and Georgia’s correctional and juvenile justice agencies to evaluate mental health wraparound services for the state reentry plan, and to share mental health data between agencies to facilitate tracking and treating people who receive community-based mental health services.  
• The creation of a three-year grant program that would help increase the number of outpatient treatment care facilities in Georgia – promoting more options for mental health treatment, while establishing an overall assisted outpatient treatment model in Georgia and measuring the program’s effectiveness.
• With so many children and adolescents negatively impacted by COVID-19, quarantines, remote learning and major disruptions to the lives they knew, I like that this act includes several provisions to improve and expand access to child and adolescent behavioral health care across the state. 
• The extension of the work of the Georgia Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission and its subcommittees through 2025. 

Now that HB 1013 has been signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp, it’s important to note that it won’t solve the mental health crisis. Georgia currently ranks near the bottom in the nation for access to mental health care. It’s my hope that the passage of HB 1013 will go a long way in starting the process for making Georgia the best state for mental health services. Stay tuned to my blog for the latest strides being made to better support Georgians contending with mental illness. If you have questions or suggestions, I invite you to reach out to me at 678.583.4865, brianstricklandforgeorgia@gmail.com or through my social media pages: @StricklandforGA on Twitter, @StricklandforGA on Facebook or @StricklandforGA on Instagram. To learn more about me and other hot button issues, please visit www.StricklandforGeorgia.com. 

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