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Hillary Clinton on Monday released a sweeping agenda to deal with the mental health problem in the United States, including a call to convene a White House conference on the issue during her first year in office. ... Clinton's plan encompasses the integration of mental and physical health care systems, including an expansion of reimbursement structures in Medicare and Medicaid, tasking the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to create and implement the new payment models. Suicide prevention is also a major focus of the plan, with Clinton's campaign saying she would assign all relevant federal agencies to create a cross-government initiative overseen by the surgeon general. Clinton previously announced her plan to increase funding for community health centers last month, an idea favored by primary rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. (Gass, 8/29)

Hillary Clinton put forward a package of initiatives Monday aimed at improving the plight of tens of millions of Americans coping with mental illness and pledged, if elected president, to hold a White House conference on the issue within her first year in office. The plan, the Democratic nominee said, seeks to fully integrate mental health services into the nation’s health-care system during her tenure as president. Measures include a national suicide prevention initiative, higher payments for providers in the Medicaid program, an emphasis on treatment over jail for low-level criminal offenders with mental health issues and the creation of new housing and job opportunities. (Wagner, 8/29)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called for putting mental health care on par with other types of health care Monday as part of a wide-ranging plan to address key problems in the treatment of people with mental illness. The proposal calls for expanding early intervention in mental illness; a national initiative to prevent suicide, which kills more than 40,000 Americans a year; increasing training for police who are called to the scene of a mental health crisis; providing mental health care for non-violent offenders to help them avoid going to jail for minor offenses; and investing in brain and behavioral research to develop better treatments. (Szabo, 8/29)

While mental health advocates are pleased that a presidential candidate is discussing behavioral health reform and say that Hillary Clinton's recently released plan is a good foundation. But advocates say it still lacks implementation details and any solution to the issue that has stalled legislation in Congress: where to find the money. Clinton's plan highlights early diagnosis and prevention; integrating mental and physical healthcare and enforcing parity; access to housing and job opportunities; suicide prevention; prioritizing treatment over incarceration; and expanding brain and behavioral research. (Muchmore, 8/29)

Hillary Clinton’s broad mental health plan, rolled out Monday, comes in the wake of a year of activity about mental health on Capitol Hill. Last month, President Obama signed into law the first major statute aimed at addressing overdoses and drug addiction. The House also passed its own wide-ranging mental health measure. ... Clinton’s plan overlaps with these legislative proposals, all bipartisan, in several ways. This is an area where some Republicans may be willing to work with Clinton should she win the White House in November. (McIntire, 8/29)

Justice Department lawyers investigating police agencies for claims of racial discrimination and excessive force are increasingly turning up a different problem: officers' interactions with the mentally ill. The latest example came in Baltimore, where a critical report on that department's policies found that officers end up in unnecessarily violent confrontations with mentally disabled people who in many instances haven't even committed crimes. (Tucker, 8/29)