More needs to be done to strengthen health labor force The pandemic has worsened in response to a growing mental health and substance use crisis, senators said at a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Lawmakers hope to pass legislation this year to address gaps in the behavioral health care system. Evidence is mounting that the existing workforce is insufficient to meet the needs of the public. Even before COVID-19, suicide mortality rates among these groups were on the rise, a situation that particularly underserved children and young people.

“Our mental health and substance use disorder workforce is too small to meet the needs of our children, let alone our entire community,” said Senate Health, Education, Labor Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Pension Board. “If we continue to stretch without taking action, there will be problems.”

Lawmakers have yet to release a mental health bill, but it could address barriers to care, including high costs, a lack of health professionals and health insurance practices that limit access.

Primary care and mental health need to be better integrated and telemedicine use Senators say it should be expanded. Other congressional committees plan to hold hearings on behavioral health this month.

More than 30 percent of U.S. adults with mental illness — and nearly half of adults with serious mental health problems — report having unmet mental health needs in the past year. Findings Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released in October. Cost, uncertainty about where to get treatment, anxiety about going to a psychiatric hospital, and worries about medication were among the barriers respondents cited as barriers to treatment.

Nearly 130 million people live in the country designated as Areas with a shortage of mental health professionals by the federal government.

“I want us to build a mental health-focused package where we really focus on workforce issues,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska.) said. “In all of our states, we’re very, very short.”

Mitch Prinstein, chief scientific officer of the American Psychological Association, told the committee that a lack of behavioral health specialists overwhelms mental hospitals and hospital emergency departments. “We did not provide the necessary workforce to ensure we were able to provide outpatient care before reaching the crisis stage,” he said.

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Part of the problem is that behavioral health providers are least likely to receive Medicare and Medicaid among specialists, which clinicians attribute to Low reimbursement rates. Providers and advocacy groups are calling on Congress to address wage rates in legislation.

Prinstein said Medicare should provide psychological residents with more help with student loan repayments and require Medicare to pay for their work, which is what is currently being done for medical residents.

Witnesses also demanded more funding for grants that enable community-based organizations to provide mental health services.

Senators and witnesses also pointed to insurance companies practice as a barrier to care, especially for people with severe mental illness.

“For example, what happens in the emergency room, we have to get authorization before we can send someone to an inpatient mental hospital,” said Michelle Durham, a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Boston Medical Center. That said, it could take hours, and if it’s rejected, the doctor has to look for an alternative.

Health insurers have been accused of failing to comply with mental health parity laws that require them to compare mental health to medical and surgical services.The federal government is currently investigation Several insurance companies about their compliance with these regulations.

Senators also advocated for removing restrictions on health insurance coverage for telehealth to expand access to behavioral care.Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician on the Health Committee, authored a bipartisan bill This will enable Medicare beneficiaries to access mental health care through telehealth without the need to visit a physical location under current rules.