Senate Dems: Biden gun-control plan should include mental health

A pair of Senate Democrats on Friday pressed Vice President Biden to include expanded access to mental-health services in his recommendations for addressing gun violence.

The lawmakers want the White House to issue final rules implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which Congress passed four years ago but has not been fully implemented.

Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) called for Biden to include mental-health parity in his recommendations to curb gun violence.

"Under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, millions of Americans with health insurance are entitled to access to a full range of mental health and substance use disorder services. However, while this historic law was passed four years ago, the administration has yet to issue a final rule, potentially leaving many Americans who need and have a right to these services without access to them," they wrote.

Democrats have repeatedly pressed the White House to issue final rules on the mental-health law. Franken and Harkin sent the administration a similar letter in December.

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