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DGR Telephone:
703-907-7800 |
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Follow APA Advocacy on Twitter!
The APA Department of Government Relations is now on Twitter! Now you can find out about APA Advocacy activities, Congressional hearings, mark-ups, and floor votes in real time.
Please click on the following link to start following APA Advocacy Twitter:
http://twitter.com/apa_
advocacy
Questions about the Twitter page or how to set up an account? Please contact Kate McAllister or Jason Pray at advocacy@psych.org. | |
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| Senate Votes to Consider Health Reform
On November 21, following a day and a half of debate, the Senate voted 60-39 along partisan lines to invoke cloture and proceed to consideration of the combined HELP-Finance health reform bill. This procedural vote does not guarantee Senate approval of health reform, since several of the moderate Democrats who voted for cloture have already said they may not vote for passage of the bill. Substantive votes will occur after Thanksgiving. |
DEA Audits of DATA-Waived Prescribers
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has recently sent letters to psychiatrists and other physicians who are registered with DEA to prescribe buprenorphine pursuant to the Drug Abuse Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) stating that they will be conducting on-site, unannounced inspections. APA has been in contact with DEA and has expressed our concerns about these inspections. DEA has assured us that these audits are routine and are not intended to intimidate or harass DATA-waived physicians or their patients. To assist our members in the inspections, we are providing background information about what to expect and how to alert us if there is a problem. You can view this information through the link below.
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| Psychiatry and Allies Defeat Psychologist Prescribing Study
The Psychiatric Society of Virginia, with strong support from the Medical Society of Virginia (MSV), APA, NAMI-VA, and other medical specialties, provided information that convinced the state Joint Commission on Health Care (JCHC) to table a proposal that would have established a study to authorize prescriptive authority for clinical psychologists. The JCHC voted unanimously against initiating a study. Delegates John O'Bannon, a physician, and Rosalyn Dance, a registered nurse, led the discussion by voicing grave concerns about giving psychologists the ability to prescribe powerful medications to patients. Varun Choudhary M.D., who managed this effort for PSV, was in attendance to provide expert testimony if required.
This victory for patient safety and high professional standards is the result of a strong grassroots effort by psychiatrists and the terrific collaboration among virtually all medical specialty societies. The JCHC also rejected a proposal to study expansion of the scope of practice of nurse practitioners and physician assistants. The MSV helped coordinate activities of the medical community's various lobbyists which provided an efficient and thorough advocacy team. While the physician groups expect to see psychologist prescribing recommended again in response to health professional shortage, PSV and its allies will remain diligent and continue to advocate better workforce development strategies. |
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CMS Withdraws Medicaid Rehabilitative Services Regulation
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday November 18 announced it is officially withdrawing the controversial rehabilitative services regulation proposed by the Bush Administration in 2007. The APA strongly opposed this regulation, which would have restricted services and payments for therapeutic foster care and other important mental health interventions. In its explanation for the withdrawal of the proposed regulation, CMS cited the clear congressional opposition to its implementation and the 1,845 public comments it received about the regulation. CMS said it plans to reevaluate the issues around rehabilitative services and explore possible alternatives to the regulation with experts and stakeholders. The official notice will appear in the Federal Register on November 23, 2009. |
Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill Likely to be in"Minibus" this Year
With health reform dominating its schedule this fall, Congress has yet to approve seven of the twelve annual appropriations bills. Four of these bills have been passed by both the House and the Senate and are awaiting a conference committee report, but three have not yet been passed out of the Senate, including the Labor-HHS-Education bill which funds federal agencies such as NIH, SAMHSA and CDC. While congressional aides say there have been no decisions about how the appropriations process will proceed for the rest of the year, Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) says he expects Congress will opt to enact a "minibus" bill made up of no more than four of the outstanding bills in mid December. The Labor-HHS-Education bill will likely be included in the minibus package along with the other appropriations bills that have not yet been approved by the Senate. Currently, all programs funded through the Labor-HHS-Education bill are operating at FY '09 levels which actually negates the slight increases that NIH and SAMHSA were slated to receive on FY '10. |
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We Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving! | |
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