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Alliance Alert: TOMORROW IS ELECTION DAY! We scanned the internet to find the best comparison of the mental health policy proposals advanced by former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. See excerpted mental health and addiction related proposals from a much broader analysis put forward by KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation).

If you haven’t voted already, make sure you get to the polls!
As the legendary disability rights leader Justin Dart said “VOTE as if your life depends on
it—Because it DOES!”

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Excerpts by the Alliance for Rights and Recovery
KFF (formerly The Kaiser Family Foundation)���� October 8, 2024

MENTAL HEALTH

Donald Trump

• Proposes a return to��, stating, “for those who are severely mentally ill and deeply disturbed, we will bring them back to mental institutions, where they belong” — moving away from longstanding policies that provide treatment and living in community settings.��
• ��repeal of the ACA and cuts to Medicaid, which would reduce coverage and access to behavioral health services, and issued an����to expand non-ACA-compliant����that often limit or exclude mental health services.
• Signed pandemic legislation () that included an expansion of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs), signed legislation that����the 988 hotline, and issued an executive order on��.������

Kamala Harris

• As vice president led the White House’s��, which has taken steps to address maternal mental health, such as launching the��, training����on maternal mental health and substance use disorders, and calling on states to expand and extend Medicaid postpartum medical and��.
• The Biden-Harris administration made investments to expand��, including to children and families and underserved populations, and to address the����by increasing licensing flexibilities for social workers.��
• The administration�����ٳ����, which included����to increase����behavioral health services (building on the administration’s��) and����state requirements for behavioral health care for Medicaid-enrolled youth, in response to worsening youth mental health.
• The administration enhanced behavioral health access opportunities for������by establishing maximum appointment wait times, surveying enrollee experiences, and adding��, which may result in improved rates and more provider participation.
• The administration����the Medicaid CCBHC Demonstration by adding����to the program.
• The administration enhanced crisis care by building up����and����services, and released the��, with focus on high-risk groups (e.g.��,��,��).

OPIOID USE DISORDERS

Donald Trump

• Declared the����a public health emergency, signed bipartisan legislation (
• 2024 campaign proposes a heavier-handed law and order response to opioids, including reviving restrictive border policies, increasing federal law enforcement involvement in local drug investigations, and seeking the����for drug smugglers and��.����
• Plans to support faith-based����treatment and job placement but emphasizes a forceful approach for homeless people with mental health and substance use needs,����ending “the nightmare of the homeless, drug addicts, and dangerously deranged” by arresting or relocating individuals to “tent cities” staffed with health workers on large parcels of inexpensive land.��

Kamala Harris

• The Biden-Harris administration����a multi-pronged response to the����epidemic, including����the supply of illicit substances like fentanyl, launching educational and awareness campaigns like����to raise awareness about fentanyl and emerging threats like xylazine, and improving prevention and access to evidence-based treatment.
• The administration reduced barriers to medications for opioid use disorder by updating regulations for������programs to improve access, extending temporary����that allow buprenorphine administration via telehealth, adding substance use treatment training requirements for providers, removing provider registration����prescribing treatment medication, and����state Medicaid plans to cover medication-assisted treatment (through the��). The administration extended����for state and tribal����to support states in distributing opioid overdose medication and continuing initiatives that increase access to opioid treatment services and medication.
• The administration expanded access to medication treatment in correctional settings by allowing����to use Medicaid funds for addiction treatment services up to 90 days before release and by������that improve access to methadone treatment in jails and prisons.
• Following the����of over-the-counter opioid overdose reversal medication under the administration, the White House����the Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose, which is a nationwide initiative to increase training on overdose reversal and improve availability of overdose reversal medication in public and private organizations across��.��

MEDICARE

Donald Trump

• Promises to “, Social Security, and patients with pre-existing conditions” including��(no specific policies proposed).����
• Proposes to��, which��would accelerate insolvency of the Medicare Hospital Insurance and Social Security Trust Funds.��
• Signed legislation that����for substance use disorders and other mental health conditions and allowed Medicare Advantage plans to offer��.��

Kamala Harris

• Biden-Harris administration proposes to “” in part by extending solvency of the Medicare Part A Trust Fund by raising Medicare taxes on high earners and closing tax loopholes, and����to expand Medicare and Social Security (details not specified).��
• ��expanding home care services under Medicare to help people with functional or cognitive impairments (see also��), and adds a vision and hearing benefit to Medicare, paid for by expanding Medicare drug negotiations and other policies.
• As vice president, cast the tiebreaking vote in the U.S. Senate for the��, which included����to lower Medicare prescription drug expenses, including negotiated drug prices and a $35 monthly insulin cap (see also��).��
• The administration����coverage��of����and access to additional mental health providers.��

GUN VIOLENCE

Donald Trump

• ��Obama-era regulations that required those eligible for Social Security Administration mental disability payments to be blocked from buying guns and made it easier for gun-safety devices to be more widely accessible.
• Has frequently attributed community gun violence and violent crime to both����and��, stating that “they’re not humans, they’re animals.”

Kamala Harris

• The Biden-Harris administration supported and signed the����into law, which enhanced background checks for individuals under 21, funds crisis intervention orders, and invests in mental health services, including��.