Increasing Mental Health Options Act of 2026

This bill is a valid exercise of Congress's power to tax and spend for the general welfare, as it amends an existing federal program (Medicare) to expand access to psychological and behavioral services. The Constitution grants Congress authority to lay and collect taxes to provide for the general welfare (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1), and the necessary and proper clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18) permits Congress to enact laws that are appropriate to carry out its enumerated powers. The Social Security Act, including Title XVIII, has long been upheld as a proper use of the spending p…

This bill proposes to expand federal authority over psychological and behavioral services through the Social Security Act, which is not among the enumerated powers granted to Congress in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. The Tenth Amendment reserves to the States or the people all powers not delegated to the United States. The regulation of medical and behavioral services is a matter of public health and welfare properly belonging to the States, not the federal government. The General Welfare Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1) does not authorize Congress to assume powers over ever…

The proposed legislation seeks to expand federal authority over psychological and behavioral services through the Social Security Act. The Constitution grants Congress only enumerated powers, and the power to regulate or provide for medical services is not among them. The general Welfare clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1) is not an independent grant of power but rather a limitation on the taxing power, as I argued in Federalist No. 41. To interpret it otherwise would render the enumeration of powers meaningless and invite an unlimited federal jurisdiction over all objects of public concer…

The Constitution vests in Congress the power to provide for the general welfare and to regulate commerce among the several states. Amending the Social Security Act to expand access to psychological and behavioral services is a proper exercise of these powers. As held in McCulloch v. Maryland, Congress may employ means not expressly enumerated to carry out its powers, so long as they are appropriate and consistent with the letter and spirit of the Constitution. Furthermore, as established in Gibbons v. Ogden, the commerce power extends to all intercourse among the states, and healthcare service…