Mental health association smacks Rehberg for “dangerous” proposal

Fear Congressman’s plan puts millions of Americans “in peril”

BILLINGS, Mont. – The nation’s largest and oldest mental health association is smacking Congressman Dennis Rehberg for his “dangerous” spending proposal because it would “put millions of Americans at risk of losing vital services.”

Mental Health America is urging members of Rehberg’s federal spending committee to oppose his “dangerous funding package.”

As chairman of a congressional committee that oversees health spending, Rehberg is trying to gut critical funding for critical services and supports for those living with, or at risk of, mental health and addiction disorders—all while protecting tax breaks for millionaires.

 “In many states, these cuts have dismantled the behavioral health safety net,” said Dr. David Shern, president and CEO of Mental Health America. “These programs are not the reason behind our growing deficit.”

Rehberg’s cuts, combined with the more than $4 billion that states have been forced to cut from mental health spending, would result in “the largest single combined reduction to mental health spending since de-institutionalization in the 1970s.”

Rehberg’s spending plan also jeopardizes funding for the National Institutes of Health and other public health agencies that serve people with mental health conditions.

Rehberg’s spending proposal also completely eliminates Title X, an initiative that provides cancer screenings, family planning and other life-saving health services to more than 27,000 Montanans.

Read Mental Health America’s full statement on Congressman Rehberg’s spending proposal HERE.

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