American Psychological Association Division 50
What a difference a couple of months can make. The November election brought home the message that healthcare matters. Even the annual Stress in America survey completed by the American Psychological Association (APA) highlights the importance of healthcare issues – including policy changes! - as a stressor for individuals of varied income levels and ages (https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2018/10/generation-z-stressed.aspx ). Fortunately, there is sweeping recognition that good health includes mental health and addictions care – and Congress has worked on some helpful legislation to support improvements in addictions issues. Specifically, it has been a whirlwind of a time legislatively, particularly in terms of opioids issues. Many of you have probably seen some glimpses of these matters in the news or via the listserv. But I’ll attempt to highlight some of the key gains.
The biggest one to mention is that on October 24, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (H.R. 6) was written into law (https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6 ). The new law provides for useful policy changes across several federal agencies affecting prevention, treatment, workforce development, and special population issues. These include things like having the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provide guidelines on non-opioid treatment and management of pain including therapies without medication. Also included are efforts by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to generate items like best practices around the treatment of acute and chronic pain management that are multi-disciplinary in nature and not using opioids. And beginning October 1, 2020, the law requires states to cover medication-assisted treatment (MAT) under Medicaid. This includes use of methadone and other drugs used in MAT that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration. A number of other innovations fostering use of electronic health records and bolstering the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and Children’s Health Insurance Program reporting requirements. Also noteworthy are some exciting targeted loan repayment programs, competitive grant programs to fund comprehensive opioid recovery centers, and new grant programs increasing student access to evidence-based trauma support services and family-focused treatment programs. I would invite you to look up the bill and give it a good read. This seems like one that really does have some meaningful gains for those we serve to help.
I also want to call attention to the efforts of APA to stave off reductions in TRICARE benefits affecting heath care for members of the military and veterans. TRICARE contractors had proposed reimbursement decreases for network providers, including psychologists, as high as 35%! As such, APA engaged on the issue and committed to do a survey to inform the situation. You can read more about efforts to support access to healthcare for military members and veterans and to stay apprised of this issue on the APA advocacy page that focuses on these populations (https://www.apa.org/advocacy/military-veterans/index.aspx).
Speaking of which, I will close by telling you about the updated APA Advocacy page (https://www.apa.org/advocacy/index.aspx ). It is chock full of resources about how to get involved in your state, different issues of interest to psychologists working in addictions and elsewhere. Please do check out the page to learn more. There are information resources, as well as tool kits for action on things related to what we do in Division 50, but also many other areas that parallel our interests.
As always, please be in touch if you have questions about any of this information. Remember too, if you are working an advocacy project related to addictions treatment, training, or policy, I am happy to discuss ideas or help you connect to other advocates or get engaged with advocacy activities at the local, state, and federal levels. Reach me at napiotrowski@yahoo.com.
Resource Information
APA Advocacy
https://www.apa.org/advocacy/index.aspx
H.R. 6 SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6
Military and veterans advocacy
https://www.apa.org/advocacy/military-veterans/index.aspx
Stress in American 2018 survey
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2018/stress-gen-z.pdf
Resources are available for those struggling with addiction and numerous effective treatments exist. Whether you are looking for help for yourself or a loved one, we encourage you to seek out help.