Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With Committee Hearing, Senators Focus Attention On Mental Health
The federal government's top mental health researcher told lawmakers Thursday that the country needs to do much more to apply research to improve treatments, as a Senate committee heard testimony to address comprehensive mental health legislation. Speaking on his second-to-last day in his job as director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Thomas Insel said his 13-year tenure had convinced him of two 鈥渁biding truths.鈥 (Sun, 10/29)
A Senate panel took up the issue of mental health care Thursday, discussing legislation promoted by Sen. Chris Murphy to overhaul the system, an unusual move since Congress hasn鈥檛 tackled comprehensive reform in decades. While a number of senators from both sides of the aisle said they wanted changes to the federal government鈥檚 role in mental health care, there won鈥檛 be action for a while. (Radelat, 10/29)