YourVoice.Now Summary
Workers & JobsAdvice only — the health department would tell states how to grow the mental health workforce, with no new money.
Workers & Jobs
The health department would have to tell states how to train, hire, and keep mental health and addiction counselors who take Medicaid and CHIP. States would not have to follow the advice, and no money comes with it.
More about this bill
Nothing in your own care or costs would change right away. The federal health department would have one year to send states advice. The advice would cover ways to train, hire, and keep mental health and addiction counselors. The focus would be rural areas and places short on providers. The advice is only advice. States would not have to follow it, and the bill sends no money. It would point to tools states already have, like special Medicaid waivers. Whether more counselors show up would depend on what each state decides to do.
Congressional Summary
Expand the Behavioral Health Workforce Now Act This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to issue guidance for states on ways to increase education, training, recruitment, and retention of mental health and substance use disorder providers under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), particularly in rural and underserved areas.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-07-22
- Date Added
- 2026-08-26
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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