APA’s Government, Policy, and Advocacy Update (May 2024)

Members of Friends of the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) sent a letter to House and Senate leaders requesting no less than $500 million funding for AHRQ in fiscal year 2025. APA is one of 173 members of Friends of AHRQ that signed the letter.

AHRQ “supports research to improve health care quality, reduce costs, advance patient safety, decrease medical errors, and broaden access to essential services,” the letter stated. “As the lead federal agency for funding health services research and primary care research, AHRQ is the bridge between cures and care, and ensures that Americans get the best health care at the best value.”

The letter was sent to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies.

“AHRQ is the federal vehicle for studying and improving the United States health care system, and it needs the resources to meet its mission and this moment,” the letter stated. “Through this appropriation level, AHRQ will be better able to fund the ‘last mile’ of research from cure to care.”

APA joined dozens of other medical organizations in expressing support for the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act (HR 7153/S 3679).

The letter was addressed to the cosponsors of the bills in the Senate and House: Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), and Reps. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), Jennifer Kiggans (R-Va.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), and Buddy Carter (R-Ga.).

APA and the other organizations thanked the lawmakers for their support of the bill. “Because of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, lives have been saved and livelihoods have been protected,” the letter states. “However, even despite this important progress, health care professionals still face greater and increasing rates of mental and behavioral health conditions, suicide, and burnout than other professions. We must continue working to ensure an environment where each and every health care professional always has access to the necessary mental health care services they need and deserve.”

Additionally, APA joined 52 other medical organizations in urging support in both the House and Senate for the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act (HR 6205/S. 3211).

The two letters were addressed to cosponsors of the legislation in the House and Senate: Reps. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.), and Tom Cole (R-Okla.), as well as Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).

The legislation would help recapture up to 40,000 unused employment-based visas so foreign-born physicians and nurses can continue working in the United States. The legislation would allow for thousands of international physicians who are currently working in the United States on temporary visas to adjust their status so they can continue working in underserved communities.

“Foreign-born physicians are an invaluable component of the U.S. health care system, comprising nearly 1 in 5 of active U.S. physicians and caring for some of the most vulnerable patient populations,” the letters stated. “In fact, in the past 20 years, more than 20,000 J-1 IMGs [international medical graduates] have gone on to serve in underserved areas.”

APA is working with district branches (DBs) across the country in its continued campaign to expand access to the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM). DBs and state associations are pursuing legislation that would require commercial insurers and/or Medicaid to reimburse for collaborative care or to appropriate funding for grants.

DBs in Louisiana and Minnesota are lobbying for legislation to require Medicaid to cover CoCM codes; their legislatures enacted laws requiring commercial insurers to cover the codes.

Following advocacy by the South Carolina Psychiatric Association, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services budget request includes $2.98 million to establish reimbursement rates for pediatric collaborative care services.

Illinois, which was the first state to enact APA’s model legislation requiring both insurers and Medicaid to reimburse for CoCM codes, is now seeking a $5 million state-based appropriation for implementation grants. ■