October 14, 2022

Protecting Access to Mental Health Services

Friend, 

Dr. Katherine Flynn is a 2022 Health Care Hero! Dr. Flynn has worked tirelessly to provide patients with the mental health services they need. Working through the weekends and long hours to ensure she is giving patients the time and attention they need.

This award highlights the importance of mental health services available in Wisconsin. Dr. Flynn's nomination noted her extensive work during her career helping veterans and cancer patients with mental health services. She works through the weekend to ensure she is not rushing her patients and gives them the time and attention they need and deserve. 

Protecting access to mental health services is a top priority of mine. We need to ensure access to telehealth mental health services remains available for everyone. I was also proud to introduce the 'No Veteran Falls Through the Cracks' Act, legislation to ensure the VA follows up with veterans who cancel a mental health appointment. 

To learn more about Dr. Flynn's award, click here. 

COLA Adjustment for Social Security

On Thursday, the Social Security Administration announced an 8.7% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security recipients. As the cost of living has increased in the past two years, seniors on fixed incomes have faced incredible challenges affording the every day things they need. We need to bring costs down immediately. 

This COLA increase will not cover the pain seniors have faced in the last two years. This will also cost Social Security roughly $120 billion in increased payments for 2023. I'm focused on protecting Social Security and Medicare. The excessive spending in Washington has put these programs further at risk - we must be working to bring costs down, stop excessive spending, and keep the promises we have made by protecting Social Security and Medicare. 

Zip Code Designation Legislation

After hearing from residents and Somers and Mount Pleasant community leaders in Racine and Kenosha Counties about their frustration with mail delivery mix-ups caused by outdated ZIP code boundaries, I was pleased to work with Sen. Johnson to help. I'm happy to share we introduced legislation to fix these issues. This common-sense legislation instructs USPS to simplify and modernize these boundaries, saving many Southeast Wisconsin residents from needless headaches. Residents of these communities currently face challenges with delayed mail delivery, increased cost of insurance and confusion surrounding school districts and property value. This legislation will alleviate the unnecessary complications caused by varying zip codes.

I will be encouraging my colleagues in Congress to help pass this legislation through the House and Senate as soon as possible. This is a common sense fix to a frustration too many Wisconsin families have experienced.

As always, if my office can be helpful or you would like to share an opinion with me, don't hesitate to reach out to my office. 

On Wisconsin,

Bryan Steil
Member of Congress

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