Members of AAPP’s Board, Government Affairs Committee, and other Committees participated in 20 virtual Congressional visits over the last two weeks along with our government affairs consultant at Venable. We greatly appreciate their participation in educating Congressional offices on the role of psychiatric pharmacists in providing patient care services and discussing policy options to remove barriers for patients in accessing their services. The visits specifically focused on the following requests:
The visits were with House and Senate offices on Committees with jurisdiction over Medicare, mental health and substance use or led a caucus focused on mental health and/or SUDs. Staff were receptive to learning about psychiatric pharmacists and the need to remove payment and other barriers to enable greater access to their services and as a solution to the dearth of mental health and SUD providers.
The visits with House members coincided with a hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Committee to reauthorize the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act (SUPPORT Act). AAPP has been working in collaboration with American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and others to advocate for an expansion in patient access to methadone which both the House and Senate are seeking to move legislation on this year but primarily next year.
AAPP once again thanks our members who participated in the visits that are critical to raising awareness about the profession with Congressional staff.