9–8–8 Implementation Act of 2026

This bill would expand funding and insurance coverage for mental health and substance use crisis services connected to the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. It would authorize federal grants for regional and local crisis call centers, a national suicide prevention media campaign, capital projects at health centers and crisis facilities, and training for crisis workers. It would require Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, TRICARE, federal employee health plans, and private group and individual health plans to cover crisis response services, generally starting 3 years after the bill becomes law. It would also create a federal panel to recommend training and protocols for 9-1-1 dispatchers handling behavioral health calls, and would change Medicaid rules so that certain crisis and community mental health facilities are not treated as institutions for mental diseases.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Doris O. Matsui Democrat sponsor
• 27 cosponsors