APA’s Government, Policy, and Advocacy Update (December 2021)

APA became a national partner of “Sound the Alarm for Kids,” a coalition aimed at raising awareness about the mental health emergency affecting children and adolescents.

More than half of adults (53%) with children in their household said that they are concerned about the mental state of their children, APA reported. Children’s hospitals reported that in the first six months of 2021, there was a 45% increase in the number of self-injury and suicide cases in 5- to 17-year-olds, compared with the same period in 2019.

“We’re in a moment of emergency for the nation’s children, and we call on policymakers at all levels of the government to ensure that screening and treatment are widely available,” said Gabrielle Shapiro, M.D., chair of APA’s Council on Children, Adolescents, and Their Families.

More information is posted here.

APA joined a coalition of mental health organizations urging the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to amend its regulators’ handbook to make it consistent with changes to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.

As it stands now, the handbook is “grossly inadequate and inconsistent” with the new MHPAEA parity compliance analyses requirements for non-qualitative treatment limitations (NQTLs), APA and the organizations wrote in a letter. “Therefore, we call upon NAIC to update the NAIC Market Regulation Handbook to include a tool that reflects current law.”

The amendments, which took effect in February, require insurers that provide medical/surgical benefits and mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits to conduct a detailed parity compliance analysis for each NQTL it imposes on MH/SUD benefits and make that analysis available to the state regulator upon request.

APA applauded an updated version of the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better social and climate reconciliation package released by the House of Representatives because it includes funding for 4,000 new Medicare-supported Graduate Medical Education (GME) slots, 15% of which would be specifically designated for psychiatry. The amended 2,135-page bill also retained language in support of strengthening mental health parity enforcement, among several other APA priorities.

APA wrote a letter to congressional leaders to support cost-sharing assistance and premium tax credit provisions to help low-income individuals afford health insurance coverage in the Affordable Care Act marketplace. APA also urged Congress to close the Medicaid coverage gaps by expanding the Medicaid program for states that have not previously expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, provide 12 months of continuous Medicaid coverage for postpartum women, and cover incarcerated individuals 30 days prior to their release from detention. APA also expressed support for a permanent authorization of the state Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and an expansion of state income eligibility levels for health insurance coverage.

An APA-endorsed bill would establish grants to prevent and reduce suicide, burnout, and mental and behavioral health conditions among health care professionals. The Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee passed the bill by voice vote and referred it to the full Committee for consideration. The Health Subcommittee passed the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act (HR 1667) with an amendment that aligns its provisions to match the language in the Senate-passed version of the bill. ■