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 Concludes Another Successful Council Session
With the conclusion of the 24th DC Council session, MSDC has created a legislative scorecard showing the success of its advocacy agenda these past two years. Similar to the past Council sessions, MSDC saw progress on a wide number of issues.
You can read our scorecard here.
MSDC establishes its advocacy priorities through its Advocacy Committee and Board of Directors. Learn more about how MSDC determines whether a bill receives a "support" or "priority support" ranking here.
The scorecard does not include other advocacy victories outside of legislation that MSDC saw this year. Other areas of success include:
- Being appointed to the Mayor's Task Force on the Healthcare Workforce
- Working with DC Health to establish a temporary medical license process
- Pushing DC Health to negotiate with Maryland and Virginia on regional reciprocity
- Testifying on issues like certificate of need changes and marijuana testing in pregnant patients.
- Testifying at numerous oversight and budget hearings to discuss issues like physician health, support for independent practices, and increased funding from DC government agencies.
The 2023-2024 Council period will be even busier than before, so make your voice heard! Use this link to let us know the issues of interest to you and how you want to get involved.
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.