EDITORIAL: Mental health-care overhaul bill worth attention

Aug. 29--The nation's mental health-care system is broken, say many providers. Families of patients with severe mental illness often agree. So do police.

A proposed federal law would target state and federal policies for the most troubled patients, those who cycle in and out of jail cells and emergency rooms, refusing the treatment they need.

Rep. Tim Murphy, a Pennsylvania Republican and the only clinical psychologist in Congress, wrote the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act.

Dunn Republican Renee Ellmers backs the legislation and joined Murphy in a visit to Fayetteville this week. So far the bill has 96 co-sponsors, from both parties. The reform package is expected to be debated in Congress this fall.

The bill links federal funding to state rules allowing judges to order treatment -- something North Carolina already has, but many states don't. It would direct a larger percentage of federal mental-health dollars to treating those in severe crises. Treatments with proven results net more federal support. It assures that patients receive prescribed medications.

The bill also gives families information to make wise decisions about care.

Despite bipartisan support, Murphy's approach has critics. Patient-rights advocates dislike forcing anyone to get treatment. They also point to families hiding children with embarrassing illness in sometimes-abusive asylums for years without adequate oversight.

While serious abuses did occur in the mental health field, which was in its infancy throughout the 20th century, legal reforms since the 1970s have tipped the scales in the other direction. This bill attempts to find a balance.

Murphy says his bill focuses on the most serious illnesses and was inspired by incidents like the 2012 shooting in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, in which an mentally unstable man attacked a school. Attackers in several other violent incidents in recent years had untreated mental-health issues.

Severely ill people are not held responsible when they commit a crime. So why would we hold them responsible for their own care decisions, including staying on their medications?

Improving our mental-health system could help reduce risk for many overlapping problems, including homelessness, drug addiction, chronic unemployment and domestic violence.

Murphy's bill deserves serious consideration. It may need additional tweaking. But it could a big step toward remedying this problem.

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