APA’s Government, Policy, and Advocacy Update

Octavio Martinez Jr., M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., has been appointed to the Biden administration’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. Martinez is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, senior associate vice president of the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, and executive director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at the University of Texas at Austin.

The task force was created in response to health inequities that have been spotlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. “These inequities were quickly evident by race, ethnicity, geography, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other factors,” stated a news release announcing the appointments.

APA and its partner medical societies—known as the Group of Six—sent a letter to Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Reps. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) and Alma Adams (D-N.C.) to express support for the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021.

The omnibus bill is composed of 12 bills sponsored by members of the Black Maternal Health Caucus and includes provisions to eliminate racial health inequities and reduce maternal mortality, including supporting mothers with mental illlness.

“This work is especially critical now as the COVID-19 pandemic risks exacerbating our nation’s maternal mortality crisis and disproportionately impacts communities of color,” the Group of Six wrote.

The letter is posted here.

In response to a proposed rule issued by the Drug Enforcement Administration that would revise the Protecting Patient Access to Emergency Medications Act of 2017 to include emergency medical services agencies, APA expressed concern about any expanded use of certain controlled substances, including ketamine, in out-of-hospital contexts without physician oversight and approvals.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requested information regarding the regulatory changes made during the COVID-19 public health emergency. In its response, APA urged CMS to maintain a number of recently implemented telehealth flexibilities. It also noted some changes that could negatively affect the quality of psychiatric care, such as the Office of Civil Rights waiving enforcement of certain HIPAA Privacy Rules, as well as the waiving of general supervision requirements of nurse practitioners and physician assistants by a physician.

Finally, in response to a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) request for information on best practices in health care regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, APA pointed to the availability of telehealth and other evidence-based models of integrated care, like the Collaborative Care Model, as strategies to safely and effectively improve access to care.

The DEA response letter is posted here. The CMS response letter is posted here. The HHS response letter is posted here. ■