Throughout 2023, psychologists across the nation and from all corners of the discipline spoke out on behalf of psychology through action alerts, in-state advocacy, and in the halls of Congress. The Advocacy Office sincerely thanks you for everything you did to advance psychology and APA’s priorities this year. Here are some examples of how psychologists built relationships with key officials in 2023:
- You sent Congress over 19,000 messages on a range of issues including Medicare, strengthening the psychology workforce, funding for programs key to psychology and scientific research, youth mental health, and youth online safety. These efforts led Congress to introduce legislation to authorize more funding for research on youth mental health, reimburse time spent supervising services delivered by advanced psychology trainees in Medicare, and advance several APA Services priorities.
- You submitted over 10,000 comments on the Biden administration’s proposed rule for the 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which carries many implications for private insurance and Medicaid reimbursement rates and the services those sectors cover. In fact, psychologists’ comments made up the single largest share of comments for a profession—45%. Learn more about the significance of this rule and the impact of psychologists’ advocacy here.
- You submitted over 3,300 comments on additional federal regulatory proposals, including on parity between mental and physical health coverage, the burden of graduate student debt, and protecting LGBTQ+ athletes.
- You joined nearly 600 congressional meetings on issues such as investing in psychology training and recruitment programs, protecting youth on social media, and protecting other programs key to psychology—including school-based mental health, scientific research, and suicide prevention—from funding cuts.
Our grassroots networks also:
Built relationships with congressional offices. After having met with Senator Michael Bennet’s (D-Colorado) staff during an APA Services fly-in in June, psychologists Michelle Dawson, PsyD, and Laura Knudston, PhD, continued strengthening their ties with the office by helping Bennet’s staff organize a roundtable to learn about the different perspectives, and clinical experiences and impressions, of youth services providers in the state. Dawson and Knudston brought together a pediatrician, a child psychiatrist, several psychologists, and a social worker to meet with Senator Bennet and one of his staff for an hour while he was back in the state. Dawson is the federal advocacy coordinator for the Colorado Psychological Association and Knudston is chair of the Membership Engagement Subcommittee for the APA Services Advocacy Coordinating Committee.
Advanced mental health legislation at the state level. APA Services introduced the Michigan Psychological Association (MPA) to the Health is Health Coalition, resulting in MPA engaging in a campaign for a mental health bill of rights (HB4707) that includes advocating in the state house, engaging in social media, and regularly sending out action alerts to MPA members. Molly Gabriel-Champine, PhD, federal advocacy coordinator for MPA, said the campaign has the potential to vastly improve access to mental health care in the state. “The Michigan Psychological Association strongly supports HB4707, because as psychologists, we know mental health is health. We encourage our legislators to pass this bill, which would assist with parity efforts allowing the people of Michigan to access quality mental health and substance use treatment, without concerns of needed services being denied coverage,” she said. “Patients should not be financially punished for making initial gains in treatment, only to have services denied for that progress. MPA hopes our legislator appreciates just how strongly the mental health crisis has affected the people of Michigan, and votes to support this bill.”
These are only some examples of the passion and commitment those who participated in our grassroots efforts brought to the table this year. Your unified voices have kept mental health services and crucial science funding at the forefront of major conversations in Congress and the Biden administration throughout the year.
Thank you for joining our efforts and making a difference! We look forward to working with you all in 2024.
For more information, contact: Doris Parfaite-Claude.