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2007-2008 Legislative Agenda and Report
Dr. Robert Lane, Federal Advocacy Coordinator
Dr. Phil Baker, State Advocacy Coordinator
Report card on Activities with the last Congressional Session (State and Federal)
AKPA’s legislative and lobbying efforts in the 2005-2006 State and Federal Congressional sessions resulted in a number of efforts that were successful in promoting and protecting psychology. On the state level, AKPA successfully lobbied for extending the sunset for the Board of Psychologist and Psychological Associate Examiners and was instrumental in ensuring language to support license mobility was inserted into the statutes. This later accomplishment will allow the Board to continue to work on license mobility in regulations as part of the normal work of the Board. We engaged the Division of Occupational Licensing in discussions about lowering licensing fees, but no real movement to rework the statutes that dictate the current method of setting licensing fees was detected. On a more positive note, we were able to completely stop (again, for this time around) the mandate to combine licensing boards for mental health professionals into a “super board.” During our legislative day, we had the opportunity to educate a number of state representatives and senators about the issue of prescriptive authority for appropriately trained post-graduate psychologists; laying the ground work for the time when this idea reaches some maturity as it applies to Alaska. The people in Juneau were less optimistic about changes to the Medicaid system that would allow for direct payments to psychologists and psychological associates.
At the federal level, AKPA was able to play a part in stopping two pieces of legislation that would have been detrimental to psychology’s efforts to provide psychological services to all who might benefit from those services. One bill dealt with creating a legal framework for “Associated Health Plans” to allow smaller employers to band together to allow for more bargaining power as they seek to provide health insurance for their employees. While the goal was laudable, the legislative vehicle also allowed for a preemption of state consumer protection laws as well as exemptions from mental health parity laws that were already on the books at the state level. HIMMA was another attempt to introduce exemptions to state consumer protection and mental health parity laws that was successfully stopped in this past congressional session. Unfortunately, Mental Health Parity legislation to fix the loopholes in the original Paul Wellstone Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, died with the session last year as it has in the five previous congressional sessions. The bright spot from the Association’s point of view, was that for the first time ever, one of our Senators signed on as a co-sponsor of the Senate version of the Mental Health Parity Act.
Report on AKPA’s Lobbyist
John Walsh continued to provide AKPA with a top dollar product for a deep discount fee in the second year of the congressional session. In this past session, John was constantly working with the association to protect the practice of psychology in Alaska. Paid for by a grant from APA, John attended the State Leadership Conference with the AKPA delegation in 2005 where he had an opportunity to learn more about our federal efforts, the lobbying training we receive from APA, and psychology’s prescriptive authority efforts. John was a crucial player in helping us form a strategy to stop legislation that was introduced without the knowledge of AKPA or the psychology licensing board that was designed to remove language that distinguishes psychologists from other mental health providers. With John’s help, we were able to work with Senator Fred Dyson to achieve the goal he was after without lessening psychology’s stature in Alaska.
With no specific legislation we are advocating for on the state level, John’s main mission in the coming contract period will be to monitor legislation we are not aware that we should be aware of and to provide us expertise and advice.
Friend of Psychology Award
Representative Kevin Myer (R-Anchorage) was the recipient of our “Friend of Psychology” award for his invaluable work in assisting AKPA with getting the sunset extension for the Board of Psychologist and Psychological Associate Examiners passed with the inclusion of language that would allow the Board to draft regulations for license mobility without going back to the legislature.
Overall Goal for Advocacy and Lobbying in the next Congressional Session
1. Protect the profession and practice of psychology in Alaska while working to expand opportunities for consumers of psychological services to receive the services they need.
2. Continue to develop relationships with lawmakers so that they feel comfortable coming to AKPA for knowledge and expertise in the field when issues pertaining to mental health arise.
3. Continue to educate association members about the importance of political connections and the role of political giving in maintaining those connections.
Goals for State Advocacy and Lobbying in the 2007-2008 Congressional Session
1. Continue to work on bring prescriptive authority to Alaska as an option for appropriately trained psychologists.
A. Continue to educate legislators about prescriptive authority for psychologist.
B. Work with AKPA CE Director to continue to bring continuing education to members that will work to help build grassroots support for this issue so that when we are ready to submit legislation the widespread support will be obvious to legislators.
2. Continue to educate legislators on the benefits of and cost savings projected from providing direct psychological services under the Medicaid system.
3. Have a “legislative day” in Juneau to introduce ourselves to new legislators and have an opportunity to meet face to face with more established representatives and senators.
4. Begin to do fund raising events for state level.
Goals for Federal Advocacy and Lobbying in the 2007-2008 Congressional Session
1. Continue to lobby for mental health parity - our goal will be to try to get a least one of our other two federally elected officials to also support mental health parity as a co-sponsor (and if not a co-sponsor, commit to vote in favor if the bill reaches the floor).
2. Advocate for CMS to rollback the cuts to reimbursement for psychologists under the Medicare system.
3. Assist APA’s Practice Directorate in its ongoing advocacy at the federal level.
4. Work with AAP to secure matching funding for federal fund-raising efforts, with Senator Lisa Murkowski as a likely candidate to fund raise for.
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