Bill · H.R. 2044· House(119-HR-2044)
Suicide Prevention Assistance Act
- Introduced
- 3/11/2025
- Last activity
- 3/11/2025 — Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- Sponsored by
- Mark DeSaulnier
- Cosponsors
- None
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The Suicide Prevention Assistance Act seeks to amend the Public Health Service Act to create a new grant program. This program would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to primary care offices to provide self-harm and suicide prevention services. Recipients would use the funds to hire clinical social workers to provide short-term services and refer patients to other facilities for long-term care. Primary care physicians would also be responsible for screening patients for these issues. The Secretary is tasked with creating specific standards of practice for these screenings.
Yes· 3 of 5
Does this make mental health care easier to get?+7
The bill establishes a grant program to provide suicide prevention and self-harm services within primary care.
Does this make health care easier to get in general?+4
By integrating mental health screenings into primary care, it increases access to essential mental health support.
Does this make what the government does easier for the public to see?+3
The bill mandates specific reporting to Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
-
Access to specialized services: Primary care offices can hire one or more clinical social workers to provide short-sterm self-harm and suicide prevention services (Section 2, subsection (b)(1) and (b)(3)).
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Early detection through screening: Primary care physicians would screen patients for self-harm and suicide to identify those in need of help (Section 2, subsection (b)(2)).
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Connection to long-term care: Clinical social workers can refer patients to health care facilities to receive long-term self-harm and suicide prevention services (Section 2, subsection (b)(4)).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
-
Limited availability of funds: The Secretary may not award more than 10 grants in total, and no more than one primary care office in any State may receive a grant (Section 2, subsection (c)).
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Limited grant amount and duration: Grants cannot exceed $500,000 and are limited to a period of 2 years (Section 2, subsection (d)(1) and (d)(2)).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Healthcare
- Improves Mental Health Access+7Improves Healthcare Access+4
- Governance And Ideology
- Improves Government Transparency+3Increases Federal Power+2
- Economy And Finance
- Increases Job Creation+3
- 3/11/2025
- Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- Introduced in House