Behavioral health is a major public health issue in the District of Columbia. Sadly, many of the legislative and regulatory initiatives around behavioral health are tied to other public health concerns, such as opioid addiction, maternal mortality, and health equity.

In partnership with the Washington Psychiatric Society, AMA, and American Psychiatric Association (APA), MSDC works to ensure that patients receive appropriate support for behavioral health issues, that the practice of psychiatry is supported in the District, and that psychiatrists are available to patients in the District.

MSDC was a proud supporter of the Behavioral Health Parity Act of 2017, which enshrined into law that all health plans offered by an insurance carrier meet federal requirements of the Wellstone/Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.

MSDC Statements and Testimony of Behavioral Health Issues

25th Council period information coming soon

AMA Study Shows Lack of Health Insurance Competition in U.S.

Sep 29, 2021, 09:25 AM by MSDC Staff

DC actually has one of the most competitive state-level marketplaces, which speaks to the lack of competition at every level.

A new AMA study released yesterday shows the rise of highly concentrated markets for health insurance throughout the U.S.

The study, entitled Competition in Health Insurance: A Comprehensive Study of U.S. Markets, analyzed market concentration and health insurance market shares for 384 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) and the 50 states plus DC. The study also presented national-level market shares for the 10 largest health insurers in the U.S.

The results show a decline in insurance competition at the state, national, and local level:

73% of MSA-level markets were high concentrated according to federal guidelines
46% of MSA-level markets had one insurer with a share of 50% or more
14 states had one health insurer with a share of 50% or more of the commercial health insurance market

The District is below the national average in terms of market concentration. For DC itself, the insurer with the largest market share (Carefirst) has a 31% share of health insurance product marketplace. The second highest (UnitedHealth Group) has a 20% share. However, DC belongs to the national majority in that a Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliate had the largest state-level market share in 40 states.

Read the AMA press release here.

Sample of Legislation MSDC is Tracking in Behavioral Health

(see the whole list of bills here)

Suicide Prevention Continuing Education Amendment Act of 2019 (B23-543)

What does it do? The bill requires licensed health providers to complete 2 hours of CME on suicide prevention, assessment, and screening.

MSDC position: MSDC opposes the bill as written as the language does not encourage physician wellbeing or sufficient awareness of suicide prevention.

Current status: The bill had a hearing with the Committee on Health on June 10.