The reauthorization of H.R. 3165 The Mental Health Parity Compliance Act of 2019 would enhance mental health care in many ways. This policy requires health insurance providers to provide quantitative data that would show how many people are receiving treatment, what types of treatment they are receiving, and to demonstrate that they are following the guidelines required by the Mental Health and Parity Act of 2008. This legislation will be used to hold insurance providers accountable and will lead to furthering the knowledge of how else we can provide solutions to the issues in mental health access. Limited and lack of access to mental healthcare is a serious problem which results in inadequate or insufficient availability of mental health services to those who need it most. 

The percentage of adults with a mental illness who report an unmet need for treatment has increased every year since 2011. In 2019, 24.7% of adults with a mental illness report an unmet need for treatment. Both adults and youth in the U.S. continue to lack adequate insurance coverage. 11.1% of Americans with a mental illness are uninsured and 8.1% of children had private insurance that did not cover mental health services, totaling 950,000 youth. As a result of the lack of access continuing in 2021, over 100,000 Americans die from drug overdoses. Clearly, during the past two years, this problem has only gotten worse as we have seen the spike in the need for mental health services since the Covid-19 pandemic began. 

Showing support for the reauthorization of this policy would improve the accountability of health insurance providers and will increase access to mental health treatment for all. This would lead to a greater understanding of how to continue to break the barriers to access to mental health care and provide vision to professionals and insurance providers about how to better serve those struggling with mental health challenges. Reauthorizing The Mental Health Parity Compliance Act of 2019 will impact the lives of so many vulnerable individuals.  Please support the reauthorization of this important legislation by signing this petition today to send the message that mental health support is a top priority in this country.