ATLANTA — Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns said Tuesday that the state legislature will make another push this year to improve mental health care, with an upcoming bill outlining a number of changes as well as several studies , aimed at laying the groundwork for further action in the years to come.
Under House Bill 520, the state would expand its student loan forgiveness program for mental health providers and seek to make it easier for officials to take advantage of a form of court-ordered outpatient treatment created last year.
It would also create new crisis stabilization units in Columbus, Dublin and the Atlanta area, and mandate greater data sharing between agencies to help investigate problems and plan services.
Burns, a Newington Republican, acknowledged the effort came in the wake of a major push in 2022 by then House Speaker David Ralston, who died last year.
“Though we miss him dearly, we’re proud to continue the work he inspired,” said Burns.
Last year’s measure prompted private insurers to adhere to long-standing federal requirements to provide the same level of benefits for mental health disorders as for physical illnesses. It also required publicly funded insurance programs to spend more on patient care and approved loan forgiveness. The law also allowed law enforcement officers to take someone they believe is in need of mental health treatment to an emergency facility for evaluation.
Funding for the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities was increased by $180 million.
But more money is needed, the sponsors of this year’s measure acknowledged, particularly to increase the amount Medicaid pays providers, which in turn could allow providers to raise wages for workers.
“I think we’re going to relieve that budget,” said Mary Margaret Oliver, a Decatur Democrat.
A key initiative would be to examine how treatment beds are currently distributed in Georgia and whether there are enough beds to meet the state’s needs. Rep. Todd Jones, a Cumming Republican, said people frequently approached him and said no treatment facility would accept their loved ones.
“Not a week goes by – and I can speak for MP Oliver and myself – when literally at least one or two Georgians contact us personally and say, ‘My son, my daughter, my cousin, what can I say to do? They can’t find a bed,'” Jones said.
A study will examine ways of reaching out to people with mental illness and substance abuse problems to try to keep them from going from prison to homelessness for treatment. Jones said that a small population consumes a lot of government resources.
Oliver said the part of last year’s law that introduced outpatient treatment by court order doesn’t work well and makes it too difficult to apply. She said the law needed to be rewritten this year to make that option more useful.
Another study is looking at lowering the licensing barriers for mental health professionals, including those trained in other countries, and considering lowering the experience requirements of those licensed in another state or to renounce it.
“We need our admissions agencies to make our mental health professionals more responsive, efficient and more a part of the modern world of online services and online payments,” Oliver said.
