Four Leading Advocacy Organizations Call on House to Not Pass Reconciliation Bill, Medicaid Cuts Would Be “Devastating” for Mental Health

Joint Statement by American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Inseparable, Mental Health America, National Alliance on Mental Illness

After years of talking about the need to address America’s mental health crisis, 50 Senators and the Vice President voted to take away health insurance from 17 million Americans by cutting Medicaid and access to ACA marketplace plans. As anyone who’s seen a doctor or needed medicine knows, health insurance is essential for affording health care – and that includes mental health care.

Medicaid is the largest payer for mental health care (25%) and substance use treatment (40%) in America – these cuts will do seismic damage to mental health care in every state. Now, this bill goes back to the House. We call on the House of Representatives to vote against these cuts and protect mental health.

Losing insurance means losing care. When individuals lose access to mental health services, it can disrupt recovery from an opioid use disorder, delay treatment for an eating disorder, and prevent new mothers from seeking help for postpartum depression. It can cut off stabilizing medication or therapy for conditions like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. And it can be deadly when crisis services are no longer there at the moment we need them most.

The harm of these cuts will extend far beyond the people who are losing their insurance. Families and communities will suffer. Scores of hospitals could shutter. The behavioral health workforce will be stretched further. Costs will be shifted to the states and taxpayers – to the detriment of state budgets that will further jeopardize investment in community mental health services. With less access to mental health care, more people with untreated mental illness and addiction will overwhelm emergency rooms, jails, and prisons, and exacerbate our nation’s challenge with homelessness.

The consequences of these disruptions, delays, and denials are devastating. Mental health conditions are treatable, but only with access to care. With treatment, people can thrive. Cutting off treatment makes it harder for people to work, go to school, and sustain relationships. Let's be clear: Medicaid is often the foundation, ensuring that people are healthy enough to work.

Just as mental health affects everyone, every American will be impacted by these cuts. The vast majority of American families have a personal connection to mental illness. Watching someone you love struggle to get care or go untreated is heartbreaking. This is why the fight is not over.

The mental health movement remains united in protecting Medicaid, because Medicaid is mental health. In recent months, advocates have fought cuts, highlighting Medicaid’s crucial role in addressing the mental health crisis and supporting Americans’ well-being. Together, our organizations have driven hundreds of thousands of calls and letters to Congress, urging them to protect it.

We stand united, now more than ever, to urge members of the House of Representatives to protect mental health by voting against this bill.