American Psychological Association Practice Organization

Re:       Include Psychology in Health Care Reform

While comprehensive legislation has not yet been introduced, committees in Congress have held several hearings to begin to lay the groundwork for consideration of health care reform.  The House Ways and Means Committee, Senate Finance Committee, and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee are expected to continue their work through April and May.  As leaders in Washington begin to convert ideas on reform into solid legislative proposals, your Senators and Representative need to hear from you NOW that health care reform must include mental health in benefit packages at parity and fully integrate psychologists and psychological services into primary care and prevention initiatives.

Targets:

All U.S. Senators and Representatives

Action:

Click here to urge your Senators and Representative

to fully include psychology in health care reform

If you are not able to reach the Legislative Action Center from the above link, please visit http://capwiz.com/apapractice/issues/alert/?alertid=13091176.   

Grassroots feedback is extremely important to our advocacy efforts, so we would very much appreciate it if you would e-mail (jcook@...) or fax (202-336-5797) us any responses you receive from your Senators or Representative.

Message:

I am writing as a psychologist and constituent to urge you to pass comprehensive health care reform legislation that includes mental health benefits at parity in all plans offered in a national insurance pool and ensures that mental health and psychologists’ services are central to primary care and prevention initiatives.

Congress should build on last year’s passage of the parity bill and make it clear that mental health and substance use benefits should be treated equally with physical benefits.  Psychological studies show that the mind and body are strongly linked.  Health care reform must make sure that mental health and substance use benefits are included and covered at parity in any national insurance pool. 

Psychologists and our services should also be fully integrated in initiatives that strengthen the role of primary care in the health system.  We already provide services in primary and integrated care settings today.  We play a vital role in treating and preventing a range of health and mental health concerns in children, teens, and adults.  Health care reform must ensure that psychologists are fully authorized to participate in the delivery of these services, and that prevention and wellness initiatives include screening for depression and other key mental health services.

Congress has a tremendous opportunity to pass comprehensive health care reform legislation that will provide coverage for the un- and under-insured, reduce costs and improve the quality of health care Americans receive.  Please ensure that mental health and psychologists’ services are fully integrated in all aspects of this important reform effort.  Thanks for your time and consideration.

Background:

As health care reform continues to take shape, APAPO has been advocating for Practice is several ways.  We want to make sure that mental health benefits are included and covered at parity in the national insurance pool envisioned in the reform plan.  As primary care is given prominence, we want to guarantee that psychologists are fully authorized to participate in the delivery of these services, and that the legislation integrates mental and behavioral services within primary care.  Also, as preventive services are envisioned as a way to reduce costs, we must make sure that screening for depression and other key mental health services will be included. 

On March 4, Psychology leaders from throughout the country took messages about health care reform to over 300 meetings on Capitol Hill during the APAPO State Leadership Conference.  Our government relations team has prepared two fact sheets on the issue:

• “Fully Integrate Mental Health Services in Health Care Reform” builds on the success of last year’s mental health parity law by arguing that psychologists and psychological services should be included in every facet of reform (http://www.apapractice.org/apo/in_the_news/healthcare_reform.html#)

• “Health Care Reform: Congress Should Ensure that Psychologists’ Services Are Key in Primary Care Initiatives” elaborates on the role of psychologists in the health system (http://www.apapractice.org/apo/in_the_news/integrated_care_factsheet.html#)