Congress expands mental health care for people leaving prison
H.R. 7535 — Second Chance Mental Health Access Act of 2026 · Filed by Valerie Foushee (D-NC) · 11 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 12, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires state Medicaid programs to cover 12 mental health telehealth visits per calendar year for people who were recently incarcerated and are now under home confinement as part of their release. The coverage applies to individuals released after the bill becomes law and continues during their period of home confinement.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a Medicaid coverage mandate for a specific, vulnerable population. It is a straightforward public-health measure with no hidden provisions or narrow carve-outs.
What the text implies
- Telehealth-only coverage may exclude individuals without reliable internet or digital literacy; effectiveness depends on state implementation and whether in-person visits are available as alternatives.
- 12 visits per year (1 per month) may be insufficient for individuals with serious mental illness; the bill does not establish whether this is a floor or ceiling, or whether states may cover additional visits.
- Home confinement eligibility is narrowly defined (judicial process + prior public incarceration); individuals on probation, parole, or released from private facilities are excluded.
- No appropriations or funding mechanism specified; states must absorb costs within existing Medicaid budgets, potentially crowding out other services unless federal matching funds are increased.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill expands mental health care access for a population with documented high rates of mental illness and suicide risk following incarceration. Telehealth removes barriers (transportation, stigma, availability) that block in-person care for people under home confinement, and Medicaid coverage removes cost barriers.
Who stands to gain
- telehealth providers and platforms
- mental health service providers offering remote care
Named in the bill
Medicaid, Social Security Act, state Medicaid programs, previously incarcerated individuals, home confinement, telehealth providers
Where it stands
11 cosponsors: 11 Democrats.
- Feb 12, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 12, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $50,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 16 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Valerie Foushee, the sponsor, reported $521,550 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Quantum Industry Coalition — $50,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 14, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,082 characters) on Jun 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 14, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress expands mental health care for people leaving prison” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr7535 Report an error
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