For mental health inclusion
APA has been pressing legislators to include sizable levels of mental health and psychosocial services in federal COVID-19 relief plans and to address the disproportionate effects of the virus on vulnerable populations, including nursing home residents, people of color, Native Americans, and veterans. In a July 2020 letter to Senate leadership, for example, APA asked Congress to provide “robust support” for mental and behavioral health in its next relief package.
APA has also been addressing the psychological effects of COVID-19 on older adults. As one example, APA submitted research-based testimony at a Senate hearing in June 2020 describing how social isolation and loneliness can harm people’s long-term health and how psychologists can increase people’s resilience.
For telemental health
In April 2020, APA scored a major victory for psychologists and their patients by helping expand access to, and reimbursement for, Medicare telehealth services. Specifically, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) temporarily lifted restrictions so patients can receive these services in any geographic location and setting, including their homes. In addition, CMS expanded coverage of certain telemental health services and temporarily waived certain requirements so that during the pandemic psychologists can provide most of their typical services via audio-only telephones.
APA wants to continue these practices beyond the pandemic, so APA’s advocacy team is now calling for both Medicare and self-insured plans to permanently expand telehealth reimbursement as well as a range of mental health benefits.
For evidence-based interventions
APA is ramping up efforts to educate policymakers on how psychological science can continue to help people cope with and respond to the pandemic. For instance, given the current uncertainty about COVID-19 vaccines, their safety, and when they will be available, APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, wrote an op-ed pieceopens in new window for the political news website The Hill that highlighted ways that behavioral science can encourage wary individuals to receive vaccines once they are proven safe and effective.
APA is also advocating for research funding and more accurate data collection to study the ways in which COVID-19 disproportionately harms racial and ethnic populations and to determine how to target prevention and treatment in communities most at risk.
Through coalition-building
Increasingly, APA has been joining with like-minded groups to champion causes related to COVID-19, mental health, immigration, and other key topics as a way to maximize impact and amplify APA’s voice on society’s most critical issues. In 2020, for example, APA partnered with other major mental health organizations to form the Friends of the National Institute of Mental Health, dedicated to advancing the public’s understanding of mental health and improving treatment of mental illness, and it’s part of similar coalitions that join scientific, health provider, and consumer groups to share information and strengthen policy support. At the onset of the pandemic, for example, APA led efforts with the Mental Health Liaison Group to ensure that psychologists and other frontline workers receive personal protective equipment.
For more on APA’s latest advocacy activities, visit APA Advocacy.
