ASA Endorses Reauthorization of Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Law

ASA has endorsed H.R.7153 / S.3679, the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act, which would renew the law passed by Congress in 2022 to address the mental health and well-being of health care professionals.  

Signed into law on March 18, 2022, the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act allocated funds for grants to address physician burnout, suicide prevention, mental health conditions, and substance use disorders. To date, the law has provided $100 million in funding to support physicians and other health care professionals across the country. The historic law will expire on September 30, 2024.  

H.R.7153/S.3679 will reauthorize the critical resources originally provided in the law through September 30, 2029.  Key provisions of the law will:

• Reauthorize a grant program for health care organizations and professional associations for employee education on strategies to reduce burnout, peer-support programming, and mental and behavioral health treatment for five years. Communities with a shortage of health care workers, rural communities, and those experiencing burnout due to administrative burdens like lengthy paperwork will be prioritized.
• Reauthorize a grant program for health profession schools or other institutions to train health care workers and students in strategies to prevent suicide, burnout, mental health conditions, and substance use disorders for five years.
• Reauthorize a national evidence-based education and awareness campaign. Currently, the campaign provides hospital and health system leaders with evidence-informed solutions to reduce health care worker burnout. Reauthorization will provide resources for the campaign to continue and expand beyond its current scope.

Read the coalition letter in support of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act. 

Read ASA’s statement from when the Act was signed into law last Congress.