Urge Your Legislators to Support New Bill to Combat Boarding, Support Mental Health Access from the ED

The bipartisan Improving Mental Health Access from the Emergency Department Act was recently reintroduced in the House for the 118th Congress by Reps. Raul Ruiz, MD (D-CA) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). The legislation is the House companion to identical Senate legislation (S. 1346) that was one of ACEP’s emergency department boarding priorities at the 2023 Leadership and Advocacy Conference in May.

ACEP helped inform and develop this legislation, which establishes a grant program to help enable emergency departments to improve coordination of care for patients experiencing acute psychiatric episodes as part of broader efforts to reduce the impact of the ongoing emergency department (ED) boarding crisis. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, the bill is designed to equip EDs with the ability to implement innovative models to ensure efficient, coordinated transition for patients from the ED to the longer-term mental health supports and resources they need and deserve.

Your voice and your stories are critical in bringing Congress’ attention to ED boarding crisis and making it a priority. Send a letter to your legislators at acep.org/actioncenter.

ACEP’s SAVE Act Introduced in Senate

On Sept. 12, the ACEP-supported Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act was introduced in the Senate by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). This legislation establishes federal criminal penalties for individuals who assault health care workers and is modeled after existing protections for airline employees. It serves as the Senate companion to the House version that ACEP advocated for during the Leadership & Advocacy Conference in May. The Senate version is essentially identical in terms of the federal penalties language and who would be covered, but there are two key differences from the House version—the Senate bill does not include provisions regarding grants for hospitals that are in the House bill, and the Senate bill includes a new section requiring a GAO report on the effectiveness of criminal penalties and prosecutions for violence against health care workers.

ACEP President Christopher S. Kang, MD, FACEP, was quoted in the senators’ press release: “Violence in the emergency department is escalating, threatening the health and safety of physicians, nurses, health care workers, and our patients. ED violence exacerbates the severe burnout affecting emergency care teams and can lead health care workers to leave an already strained workforce.”