Bipartisan members of Congress have introduced legislation to expand access to mental health services through a proven clinic model. Representatives August Pfluger (TX-11), Doris Matsui (CA-07), Craig Goldman (TX-12), Angie Craig (MN-02), Mark Alford (MO-04), Paul Tonko (NY-20), and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) introduced the Ensuring Excellence in Mental Health Act, which permanently authorizes the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) model and gives every state the option to implement this approach into its behavioral health care systems. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Tina Smith (D-MN), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) introduced the Senate version in December 2025.
What the CCBHC Model Provides
CCBHCs help close gaps in behavioral health services by delivering a full range of community-based services, including 24/7 crisis care, outpatient mental health and substance use treatments, screening and diagnosis, and coordination with hospitals, law enforcement, and veterans’ organizations. Congressman Pfluger stated that the legislation “establishes a durable payment structure for CCBHCs under Medicare and codifies the Medicaid payment system these clinics depend on to keep their doors open for people who need care.”
Congressman Fitzpatrick noted that “Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics have proven that timely, coordinated, community-based care can stabilize individuals in crisis, connect them to treatment, and support long-term recovery.” The legislation takes this proven model and gives it the durability it deserves by establishing a formal funding structure and allowing Medicare coverage for the services these clinics provide.
Key Provisions
The Ensuring Excellence in Mental Health Act would permanently authorize a Medicaid payment system for the CCBHC model and establish a definition of services and prospective payment system for CCBHCs under Medicare. It also would establish a new accreditation process for CCBHCs and a technical assistance program at HHS to encourage program integrity and quality of care, authorize expansion grants for certified or potential CCBHCs, and authorize a new data infrastructure system for CCBHC data reporting.
Several organizations support the legislation. Chuck Ingoglia, MSW, President and CEO of National Council for Mental Health Wellbeing, stated that “the Ensuring Excellence in Mental Health Act will empower clinics to sustain their critical work. It will grow the behavioral health workforce and ease the strain on emergency rooms and local law enforcement—which, in many communities, remain the primary response when a mental health or substance use crisis occurs.”
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://pfluger.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2953