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Georgia House Speaker introduces mental health reform bill
State lawmakers say they hope to do more to reform mental healthcare in Georgia. Tuesday afternoon, a bi-partisan group of lawmakers joined House Speaker Jon Burns to outline their plans.
ATLANTA - Speaker of the House Jon Burns, R-Newington, announced the filing of new legislation Tuesday to add to reforms made last year to Georgia's mental healthcare system.
"Today we begin the next chapter of our ongoing commitment to better mental healthcare in Georgia," said Speaker Burns.
House Bill 520 is a bi-partisan bill co-sponsored by state Rep. Todd Jones, R-South Forsyth, and state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur. The same pair worked together on the Mental Health Parity Act last legislative session, which required insurance companies to cover mental health treatments just like those for physical health.
HB 520 will improve data sharing between agencies in accordance with state and federal laws and include a "bed study" so that state leaders know exactly how many slots are available for Georgians in crisis across the state.
"There is not a week that goes by--and I can speak for Rep. Oliver and myself—where we literally have at least one or two Georgians contact us personally and say, 'my son, my daughter, my cousin—what am I supposed to do?'" Rep. Jones explained. "They can't find a bed. They can't find [a] critical illness bed. They can't find a place for them to go or to step down. We need to address this, and we need to study this."
Rep. Oliver said one of the issues at the heart of the mental healthcare shortage is a lack of workers. HB 520 will expand the state's loan forgiveness program to encourage more people to enter the mental health field.
"We want more of the mental health service providers to be able to take advantage of the $10 million we appropriated last year," said Rep. Oliver.
Speaker Burns made sure to acknowledge the work done by his predecessor, the late House Speaker David Ralston, to spearhead the General Assembly's work in mental health.
"We are mindful that Speaker Ralston and his wife, Sheree, were driving forces behind last year's success. And while we miss him dearly, we are proud to continue the work he inspired," said Speaker Burns.