Skip to content

Chair Cassidy, Ranking Member Sanders, Colleagues Reintroduce SUPPORT Act to Continue Effort to Address the Nation’s Opioid and Mental Health Crisis

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Bernie Sanders (I-VT), ranking member of the HELP Committee, Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), John Hickenlooper (D-CO) reintroduced the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act, which bolsters prevention, treatment, and recovery services for Americans with substance use disorders and mental illness. Originally signed into law by President Trump in 2018, the SUPPORT Act reauthorization expired September 30, 2023. 

“The SUPPORT Act gives communities vital tools to combat the opioid and mental health crisis,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Reauthorizing the SUPPORT Act allows us to improve and properly fund these programs that save American lives.”  

“This country is facing devastating substance abuse and mental health crises. It is absolutely unacceptable that more than 100,000 people in America died from overdoses last year – nearly 70% involving fentanyl and other deadly synthetic opioids. That is a national tragedy. I look forward to working with Chairman Cassidy to reauthorize and strengthen the SUPPORT Act, but let’s be clear: this is a very modest piece of legislation. If we are serious about saving lives, we need to do much more. That means making major investments to dramatically increase the number of substance use counselors and mental health professionals in America, among many other things. We cannot turn our backs on people who are suffering,” said Senator Sanders.

Since arriving to Congress, Cassidy has led initiatives strengthening mental health resources for families and children, including extending programs first passed in his Mental Health Reform Act of 2016. Cassidy introduced the SUPPORT Act reauthorization in July 2023 before the bill’s programs expired. The SUPPORT Act passed the HELP Committee last Congress with strong bipartisan support.

The SUPPORT Act Reauthorization of 2025:  

  • Helps more addiction medicine providers enter the workforce, increasing capacity of recovery programs. 
  • Helps individuals in recovery reenter the workforce to get back on their feet. 
  • Reauthorizes programs that treat moms and babies with alcohol and other substance use disorders. 
  • Ensures that 9-8-8 Suicide Prevention Lifeline is protected from cybersecurity threats. 
  • Improves access to at-home drug disposal systems.  
  • Reauthorizes taskforce designated to make recommendations for children suffering from trauma. 

Read the full bill text here.  

###

For all news and updates from HELP Republicans, visit our website or Twitter at @GOPHELP. Click here to unsubscribe.

 

Previous