Federal News & Issues

Jun 26, 2017

ARLINGTON, Va. – The American Psychiatric Association today issued the following statement from APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A. in response to the Congressional Budget Office score released today that shows that 22 million Americans would lose coverage by 2026 under the Senate’s proposed health care legislation:

“The CBO report highlights in stark terms the negative impact of the Senate proposal. The bill would reverse much progress in recent years by rolling back Medicaid expansion, capping the Medicaid program and allowing states to waive critical essential health benefits. In less than a year the Senate that passed the Comprehensive Mental Health Act on a bipartisan, bicameral legislation, has turned back on the advances to treat those with mental illness and substance use disorders....

Jun 22, 2017

Washington, DC — The physician leaders of six organizations representing more than half a million of America’s frontline physicians are strongly opposed to the Better Care Reconciliation Act. The U.S. Senate’s proposed health reform bill contains provisions that would do great harm to patients by repealing and undermining essential coverage and key patient protections established by the Affordable Care Act and make health care unaffordable for millions of Americans.

Given the broad impact of this bill and the magnitude of the changes made, including to the Medicaid program, our organizations are deeply concerned with the hidden and hurried manner with which this bill was drafted. We are concerned that no public hearings were held and no physician or patient expertise was sought during the bill’s development.