Past Letters of Support

September 2019

Global Alliance joins with MHLG to address the shortage of mental health professionals and reduce the unmet mental health treatment gap

September 17, 2019: The Global Alliance joined with the Mental Health Liaison Group in a letter to Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Gardner expressing support for the Mental Health Professionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act of 2019. The legislation is important to addressing the nation's dire shortage of mental health professionals. A similar letter was sent to Reps. John Katko and Grace Napolitano on July 31, 2019. 

August 2019

Global Alliance supports UNDERSTAND Act

August 20, 2019: In a letter to Senators Portman and Casey, the Global Alliance expressed support for the UNDERSTAND Act. The Act would create a surveillance system to track how social determinants affect health care outcomes. 

Global Alliance supports child nutrition programs in schools

August 6, 2019: In a letter to Senators Pat Roberts and Debbie Stabenow, the Global Alliance joined with other national, state, and local organizations to encourage the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Committee to consider including eating disorders prevention within the Local School Wellness Policies as found in Section 4 of the bipartisan Long-term InVestment in Education for Wellness (LIVE WELL) Act (H.R. 2625). The move is a vital component in fostering the mental and physical wellbeing of children in schools.  

July 2019

Global Alliance supports STANDUP Act

July 12, 2019: The Global Alliance joined with Sandy Hook Promise and other organizations to support H.R. 2599, the Suicide & Threat Assessment Nationally Dedicated to Universal Prevention (STANDUP) Act. Since 2010, suicide has been the second-leading cause of death for young people ages 10-24. The STANDUP Act addresses the growing youth suicide crisis and school shootings by increasing the use of student suicide awareness and prevention training as well as school-based threat assessment teams. Reps. Scott Peters and Gus Bilirakis are leading the effort to pass this legislation in the House.  

June 2019

Global Alliance joins other national organizations to support Medicare Telehealth Benefits 

June 25, 2019: The Global Alliance joined with several other national organizations to support the expansion of Medicare Telehealth benefits. Provision for the benefits is included in section 103 of the bipartisan Beneficiary Education Tools Telehealth Extender Reauthoriation (BETTER) Act of 2019 (H.R. 3417). Current law prohibits the receipt of telehealth services in the home and limits coverage to specific geographic areas. H.R. 3417 removes these barriers, thus allowing Medicare patients to access psychotherapy services through telehealth in their own homes and regardless of where they live.  

Global Alliance supports the Prevention and Public Health Fund

June 18, 2019: In a letter to Senator Blumenthal and Representative Matsui, the Global Alliance joined 180 other organizations to support introduction of the Public Health Funding Restoration Act. The Act will restore funding for the Prevention and Public Health Fund (Prevention Fund), which was established under the Affordable Care Act. Adequately funding the Prevention Fund is especially critical to communities in their efforts to address public health threats such as the opioid epidemic and measles outbreaks. The Prevention Fund also supports "core public health activities, such as the 317 Immunization Program, tobacco cessation, chronic disease prevention, infectious disease response, and other critical program to help states and local organizations keep communities healthy and safe."  

Global Alliance joins with MHLG to support the Mental Health Parity Compliance Act of 2019

June 5-6, 2019: We co-signed letters to Senators Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray, Representatives Katie Porter and Gus Bilirakis, and Representative Norcross, vice-chair of the Bipartisan Addiction Task Force, to express our support for the Mental Health Parity Compliance Act of 2019. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Federal parity law) was designed to ensure that mental health and substance abuse treatment is no more restrictive than insurance coverage for any other medical condition. Although the Act passed more than 10 years ago, health plans and insurers generally are not yet meeting the requirements of the law. Our letter encourages the respective committees to move this legislation expeditiously upon its introduction.  

May 2019

Global Alliance supports School-Based Health Centers Reauthorization Act of 209

May 13, 2019: We joined with the School-Based Health Alliance to support the School-Based Health Centers Reauthorization Ace of 2019. The Act is a bipartisan effort to increase access for young people to primary and mental health services through school-based centers. Currently, more than 2,500 school-based health centers in 48 states and the District of Columbia serve as critical access points where young people can receive comprehensive health care.   

Global Alliance supports the CARE Act to combat the Opioid and Substance Use Epidemic

May 8, 2019: Joining with more than 200 other organizations, the Global Alliance endorsed the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency (CARE) Act. The legislation will provide state governments with $100 billion in federal funding over the next 10 years to help workers who are at greater risk for, or currently struggling with, addiction to get into treatment and to find and maintain employment. It's the most comprehensive piece of legislation ever introduced to combat the Opioid crisis.  

April 2019

Global Alliance supports the Mental Health Services for Students Act of 2019

April 25, 2019: As part of the Mental Health Liaison Group (MHLG), the Global Alliance expressed support for the Mental Health Services for Students Act, which will strengthen school-based resources for students. The legislation  provides federal support to assist local communities and schools with health providers who can effectively support our nation's youth in dealing with trauma and violence.  

Global Alliance supports the Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions and Making Health Care Affordable Act of 2019

April 5, 2019: We joined with other national organizations to strengthen Americans' access to mental and behavioral health care.   

Global Alliance supports increased funding for the STOP School Violence Act

April 2019: We joined in a letter to Reps. Moran, Shaheen, Serrano and Aderholt urging the Appropriations Committee to fund the STOP School Violence Act at a level of $125,000,000, a $25,000,000 increase over FY19 funding. The funding increase will allow more states, localities and tribes to provide violence prevention programming to students and teachers.

Global Alliance supports the Investing for the People Act of 2019

April 2019: The Global Alliance joined a MHLG letter to Reps. Yarmuth and Womack supporting H.R. 2021 – the Investing for the People Act of 2019. The legislation would raise both the defense and non-defense discretionary caps by $88 billion each in Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021.

Global Alliance acknowledges funding for Child and Maternal Programs

April 2019: In a letter to Reps. Blunt and Murray, we joined with other organizations to thank them for allocating $5 million for Screening and Treatment for Maternal Depression and $10 million in funding for the Pediatric Mental Health Care Access Program.   

March 2019

Global Alliance supports funding early childhood

March 19, 2019: We joined with Zero to Three to request funding for the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Grant Program, which provides benefits for children who are at risk for mental health disorders or who have been repeatedly exposed to trauma.   

Global Alliance supports Stabilize Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Act

The Global Alliance endorsed bipartisan legislation introduced by Reps. Kennedy and Katko to protect Americans from losing health care coverage due to onerous paperwork, temporary loss of housing or other life events for adults and children. Read the announcement.   

Global Alliance expresses concern re: non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT)

The Global Alliance joined with several groups to express concern about a proposed change in Medicaid regulations that would allow states to eliminate Medicaid non-emergency medical transportation, including for the blind, elderly, or disabled. The proposed Medicaid rule would repeal long-standing regulations (CFR 431.53) that have been upheld in the courts requiring State plans to include necessary transportation to and from providers.

Global Alliance concerned with rising health care costs

The Global Alliance joined with the MHLG in a letter to Senators Alexander and Murray expressing concern about rising health care costs and suggesting ideas for addressing the burden of costs on taxpayers, employers, and family budgets. 

Global Alliance encourages Community Mental Health Services Block Grant

We co-signed a letter to Reps. DeLauro and Cole requesting their support for an additional $35 million for the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant for FY 2020, to fund a five percent set-aside for states to fund crisis care services.  The funds would enable states to implement the Crisis Now strategies recommended by the Crisis Services Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.  

Global Alliance supports Threat Assessment, Prevention, and Safety (TAPS) Act of 2019 

We co-signed a MHLG letter supporting the Threat Assessment, Prevention, and Safety (TAPS) Act of 2019 (H.R. 838/S. 265). The legislation creates a multidisciplinary national task force of experts who will recommend national guidelines for behavior-based threat assessment and management to support communities.  

February 2019

Global Alliance supports Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Expansion Act

In a letter to Majority Leader McConnell, Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader McCarthy, the Global Alliance joined with the MHLG to urge support for the Excellence In Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Expansion Act. The Act includes provisions to extend and expand the current CCBHC Medicaid Demonstration.

Global Alliance urges extension of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Demonstration

In a letter to Senators McConnell, Schumer and Reps. Pelosi and McCarthy, we joined with the MHLG to urge Congress to act quickly to extend and expand the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) demonstration.