The Senate Committee on Finance released a bipartisan report on mental health, tilted “Mental Health Care in the United States: The Case for Federal Action.” The report is the next step in the committee’s process to address gaps in the U.S. mental health care. It highlights why increased focus on mental health is needed and how the federal government can optimize the allocation of resources to best address current challenges. Key highlights include:

• More than half of people who need mental health care do not receive it, with even higher rates of unmet need for racial and ethnic minority populations.
• The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated challenges in accessing care and has resulted in many health care providers suffering from burnout.
• Mental health and SUD challenges worsened among youth during the years leading up to COVID-19 and have reached crisis levels in the wake of the pandemic.