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DGR Telephone:
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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 Kyle Folsom at advocacy@psych.org. |
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House Begins Path to FY 2011 Rescissions
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) has released a list of proposed cuts to FY11. Please note the proposed cuts are from the President's FY11 budget request. NIH, for example, would be flat funded at FY 2010 levels under Chairman Rogers' proposal. A list of more specific cuts (i.e., programs within agencies) has not yet been released. Text of the FY11 Continuing Resolution extension is scheduled to be released shortly, with the package to be considered on the House floor this week.
Proposed Cuts to Key Public Health Programs in FY11:
- National Institutes of Health -$1B
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services -$96M
- Food and Drug Administration -$220M
- Community Health Centers -$1.3B
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House Proposed FY 2012 Funding Cuts
The House Appropriations Committee approved its 302(b) allocations on February 8, with two new Republican appropriators voting against the measure because the cuts weren't deep enough: Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY). The allocations divide the $1.055 trillion available for discretionary spending between the 12 spending bills, with $419.8 billion going to the 9 non-security bills (i.e., those other than Defense, Homeland Security and Military Construction-VA). This represents a $42.6 billion reduction for non-security spending below FY10. The FY 2012 allocation for the Labor, Health and Human Service Programs which include NIH, SAMHSA, FDA, Community Health Centers, etc is $157.02 billion, a 4 percent cut from FY10 levels or $6.565 billion below the current funding. |
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Several APA Supported Bills Introduced
As the 112th Congress gets into full swing, members of both chambers have recently introduced a number of proposals that are a priority for the APA.
Campus Mental Health Improvement Act
The Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act, introduced this week by Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), aims to maximize the likelihood that students who require mental health treatment receive it and that their problems do not reach a crisis level before services become available. To achieve this, the bill establishes grants to eligible colleges and universities to expand their mental health programs including for direct services, training, and expanding campus education. The bill also calls for the establishment of a national public education campaign on campus mental health.
Health Care Truth and Transparency
The Health Care Truth and Transparency Act of 2011 (H.R. 451), introduced recently by Representatives John Sullivan (R-OK) and David Scott (D-GA), would provide much needed clarification towards addressing patient confusion in the health care marketplace by making it unlawful for any health care professional to make deceptive statements or engage in behavior that misleads patients in advertisements and marketing efforts. It would additionally increase the resources of the Federal Trade Commission to monitor and enforce its authority over false and misleading advertisement.
'Webb' Criminal Justice Commission
Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) has reintroduced S.306, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2011, which would create a blue-ribbon, bipartisan commission of experts charged with undertaking an 18-month top-to-bottom review of the nation's criminal justice system, including the provision of mental health services, and offer concrete recommendations for reform. The bill, which was first introduced March 26, 2009, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last term with 39 bipartisan cosponsors. On July 28, 2010, it passed the U.S. House of Representatives, but despite strong bipartisan support, the bill was blocked in the Senate last year.
APA members are encouraged to call their Representative to support the Campus Mental Health Improvement Act and Healthcare Truth and Transparency Act, and Senators to support the National Criminal Justice Commission Act. Visit the Advocacy Action Center to find your legislators' contact information. |
Health Care Law and Medicare
On February 10, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on the health care law and Medicare, with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick, M.D., as the key witness. This was the first opportunity for any House panel to question the CMS Administrator since his recess-appointment in July. Dr. Berwick defended the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law on March 23 of last year, and said it was reducing Medicare costs. A top line of questioning by Republicans on the Subcommittee involved Medicare Advantage plans offered by private insurers and whether the health care law would raise costs for the beneficiaries who choose them. |
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