9–8–8 Implementation Act of 2026

Key Points

• The bill gives $441 million to local 9-8-8 call centers to hire staff, upgrade technology, and improve training so calls get answered faster.
• It requires Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, TRICARE, and federal employee health plans to cover crisis response services like mobile crisis teams and stabilization facilities, with cost sharing similar to other medical care.
• It provides $1 billion in grants to build or renovate crisis facilities so people in crisis have somewhere to go besides a crowded emergency room or jail.
• It changes Medicaid rules so crisis stabilization facilities and behavioral health clinics are no longer excluded from Medicaid funding under the old institution for mental diseases rule.
• It launches a national suicide prevention media campaign to teach families how to recognize warning signs and to spread awareness of the 988 hotline.
• It creates a federal panel to improve how 911 dispatchers work with the 988 system so mental health calls can be routed to crisis responders instead of only police.