August Is the Time to Act!

The most salient thing on my mind this month is a vision of sitting on the beach, watching the waves come in rhythmically, one by one, a soothing lullaby to help me along into a nap. But this is no time for snoozing! We need to act now! Yes: we need to act even in the depths of August. This August, we have a rare opportunity because your senators are on recess and back home. And while your senators are home, as an APA member and individual citizen, you can make a difference by encouraging them to support mental health reform. But, let’s back up. What is all the hubbub about? And why is this so urgent?

As you know, with your support, APA and your district branch (DB) have been hard at work to help pass Comprehensive Mental Health Reform (CMHR). We met our first success in the House of Representatives in early July, when the House overwhelmingly voted to pass CMHR legislation by a vote of 422-2 (see the related Psychiatric News article. Bipartisan legislation introduced by Reps. Tim Murphy, Ph.D. (R-Pa.) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015 (HR 2646), was passed and aims to promote evidence-based psychiatric care and research activities, improve enforcement of mental health parity, ensure better coordination of federal mental health resources, and address the critical psychiatric workforce shortage, to name a few.

Now, we need the Senate to do the same, and for that we need your help, since, if we are to have CMHR, we need both the House and the Senate to approve bills in its support. With both bills approved, the process can move toward putting together a bill with input from both chambers that President Obama can sign into law.

But time is of the essence, because if we are to get a bill passed by the Senate, it needs to be in September, immediately following the August recess. This is because Congress will be focused on elections during the months of October and into November and out of session for most of that time. Importantly, if the Senate does not pass a bill, it means we go back to square one. We do not know what the political landscape will look like after the November elections, and with a new Congress, we will have to start all over again. In fact, appreciating how time-sensitive this matter is and the strength of APA and its members, the authors of the Senate bill (S 2680)—Sens. Lamar Alexander, (R-Tenn.), Bill Cassidy, (R-La.), Chris Murphy, (D-Conn.), and Patty Murray (D-Wash.)—have asked that APA members reach out to their senators and urge them to bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote and to vote in favor of this legislation.

We are working with your DB to maximize our Association’s advocacy at all levels, and we have set up an easy and fast way for you to contact your senators through APA’s Advocacy Action Center and enter your ZIP code. A draft of a message will appear in an automated email that you can personalize and send to your senior and junior senators with just one click. Even better, you can call your senators’ offices and talk to their staff about the bill. (Phone numbers can also be accessed in the APA Action Advocacy Center.) In addition, we anticipate that many DBs will be setting up meetings to discuss CMHR and S 2680 over this August recess, and I urge you to be as involved as you can be. You can bet that the senators for New York have already heard from me!

We as psychiatrists tend to be overscheduled and have less time for advocacy activities, but this is really important. It is something that you can do today to make a difference.

If you need further information or help with this, contact us at [email protected]. Your actions can go a long way to ensure that CMHR goes to the president’s desk for a signature this year. ■