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WASHINGTON – Congressman Paul Tonko released the following statement after voting to pass the 21^st Century CURES Act, legislation that supports lifesaving medical research, battles the opioid epidemic nationwide, and comprehensive mental health reform that Tonko has worked to advance in recent years. The bill also includes the Medicaid DOC Act, which Tonko introduced with Western New York Republican Chris Collins in February. The CURES Act has now been sent to the White House for President Barack Obama to sign the bill into law.

“I am proud that many of my top mental health policy priorities were included in this bill. That includes funding to support opioid treatment, creating a bed registry program for those in mental health crises, helping low-income families find a doctor online and funding to research the complexities of the human brain. This bill includes important provisions that I have been working on for years. It is bipartisan and will work to improve quality of life and mental health wellbeing for families in our community and across the country,” said Tonko.

A considerable amount of policies and legislation Tonko has worked to advance in the 114^th Congress was included in the CURES Act:

·         As vice co-chair of the Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus in the House of Representatives, Rep. Tonko has identified combating the national opioid crisis as one of his priorities. CURES includes $1 billion in support for opioid prevention, treatment and recovery that will help implement programs from legislation passed earlier this year.

·         CURES also included Tonko-authored legislation, H.R 4349, the Coordinating Crisis Care Act, that would authorize a new grant program with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to fund the development of real-time bed registry systems that will provide individuals in crisis the appropriate care they need in a timely fashion.

·         In February, Tonko joined with Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) to introduce the Medicaid Directory of Caregivers (DOC) ACT, legislation that improves access to doctors for Medicaid participants.  The bill requires states that operate a fee-for-service or primary care case management program to include a directory of physicians who served Medicaid patients in the prior year on the Medicaid program’s website. This legislation was also included in CURES.

·         The legislation also provides additional funding for lifesaving medical research, including $1.5 billion for the BRAIN Initiative, which Tonko has championed and focused on in an event he organized last year in Colonie.

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