H.R. 7780, the Mental Health Matters Act, was a bill in the 117th Congress that would have expanded mental health staffing in Kâ12 schools, required colleges to accept broader documentation for disability accommodations, and tightened federal rules on employer-sponsored health plans that deny mental health claims. The House passed it on September 29, 2022, by a vote of 220â205. The Senate never acted on it, and the bill died when the 117th Congress adjourned in January 2023.
Because a bill has to clear both chambers in the same Congress to reach the president, H.R. 7780 did not become law. Some of its ideas have since appeared in narrower bills, but the Act itself is no longer pending.
School Mental Health Staffing and Grants
The centerpiece of the bill was a grant program to put more mental health professionals in schools that are short of them. It authorized $200 million per year starting in fiscal year 2023 for partnerships between school districts and colleges to train and recruit school counselors, psychologists, and social workers.
The bill wrote specific staffing ratios into eligibility: no more than 250 students per school counselor, 500 students per school psychologist, and 250 students per school social worker. Districts falling short of those ratios could apply for grant money to close the gap.
Separately, the bill authorized $5 billion for fiscal year 2023 for states to award competitive subgrants to local districts for hiring school-based mental health providers, with future years left to later appropriations.
College Disability Accommodations
The bill would have changed how colleges and universities that receive federal financial aid handle disability accommodations, including for students with mental health conditions. Institutions would have been required to accept a broader range of documentation to establish that a student has a disability: a prior Kâ12 individualized education program (IEP), a Section 504 plan, records from a licensed professional, documentation from another college, or proof of a service-connected disability.
Colleges would also have had to publish clear eligibility information on their websites, cover the accommodations process during student orientation, and report data on students receiving disability services to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
Mental Health Parity and Employer Health Plans
The bill made significant changes to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which governs most private-sector employer benefit plans. Under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), employer plans already have to cover mental health and substance use treatment on par with medical and surgical care. H.R. 7780 would have authorized the Department of Labor to impose civil monetary penalties on plans that violate parity requirements.
Two other ERISA changes went to how disputes get resolved. The bill would have banned mandatory arbitration clauses, class action waivers, and representation waivers in ERISA-governed health plans, so a worker denied mental health or substance use benefits could go to court instead of into private arbitration.
It would also have eliminated discretionary clauses in those plans. A discretionary clause gives the plan administrator authority to interpret plan terms and decide claims. When a plan contains one, courts review the administrator’s decision under an “arbitrary and capricious” standard and uphold it unless it was unreasonable. Without the clause, courts apply a “de novo” standard and weigh the evidence fresh. Removing discretionary clauses would have shifted that dynamic toward employees challenging denials.
Why the Bill Died and What Has Come Since
Representative Mark DeSaulnier of California introduced H.R. 7780 on May 16, 2022. The House Education and Labor Committee reported it with an amendment on September 22, and the full House passed it a week later on a largely party-line 220â205 vote. The Senate received the bill on October 11, 2022, and referred it to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. That committee took no further action, and the bill expired with the end of the 117th Congress.
Pieces of the package have reappeared in narrower legislation. Senator Chris Murphy introduced the Parity Enforcement Act of 2024 (S. 5524) in the 118th Congress, focused specifically on civil monetary penalties for mental health parity violations. Whether the school staffing grants, the college accommodations changes, or the broader ERISA reforms in H.R. 7780 return in future bills is still open.