Behavioral Health
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
MSDC Announces 25th Council Period Advocacy Agenda
With the current Council of DC legislative period approaching its end, MSDC is pleased to announce its advocacy agenda for the next two years.
At its December 5 Board of Directors meeting, the Board unanimously approved its advocacy priorities for 2023-2024. The agenda is modeled after the one the Board approved two years ago and establishes the Society's advocacy priorities during the next Council period. The agenda was updated and reviewed by MSDC's Advocacy Committee prior to the Board meeting.
As seen below, the agenda focuses on four areas that help make the District "the best place to practice medicine":
- Ensuring Quality Care for All Patients
- Protecting Physicians and Their Practices
- Promoting Equitable and Inclusive Public Health
- Making Affordable Care Accessible
Most of the priorities remain similar from the 2021-2022 document, as this one seeks to build off of a series of major advocacy wins this Council period. A summary of this session's advocacy successes will be published in the near future.
Making the list this year are a few new or
adjusted priorities. Nationwide challenges to the expertise of
physicians led to clearer calls for advocacy in areas like children's
healthcare, reproductive health, and health facility safety. The
document also includes for the first time advocacy for "measures of
sustainability" to reflect concerns about environment change and
medicine. Telemedicine is also explicitly spelled out as the pending end
of the federal public health emergency and insurer practice changes
endanger the effectiveness of this important medical tool.
MSDC
also looks to build on its unprecedented grassroots and testifying
record this Council period. MSDC members and physicians who want to become more involved in local advocacy can contact Robert Hay at hay [at] msdc.org.
Sample of Legislation MSDC is Tracking in Behavioral Health
(see the whole list of bills here)
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.