Mental health clinics angle for a spot in Biden budget bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — An innovative program to help people with mental health and substance abuse problems is being primed for a major expansion as the COVID-19 pandemic deepens struggles with drug use, depression and anxiety for many Americans.

Community behavioral health clinics offer 24/7 services to catch people falling into crisis and pull them back. One tactic involves deploying peer counselors who have lived and survived their own trauma. Launched in the Obama administration, the clinics actually got scaled up under President Donald Trump. That's not typical for a government health program in politically polarized times.

Now, as Democrats haggle over the details of how to deliver on President Joe Biden's domestic agenda, some backers see that mammoth bill as the best vehicle for a major expansion of the clinics. The estimated cost is close to $3 billion, not huge in the context of the $3.5 trillion budget target just set by the Senate. But with many competing priorities nothing is guaranteed.

“I'm advocating that this be part of any health care package that moves in the Senate,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. She and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., are considered legislative godparents of the clinics, a yearslong bipartisan collaboration between a liberal stalwart and an old-school conservative.

This could be their moment. The COVID-19 pandemic is blamed for a nearly 30% rise in overdose deaths last year, and other indicators show marked increases in anxiety and depression. Young adults and adolescents are of particular concern.

“Clearly the impact of the pandemic on people’s mental health was significant,” said Blunt. “If you had any kind of addiction issue, it was likely to get worse as you’re more likely to be isolated and have more anxiety. On every health marker...