The How and Why of Working Closely With the Country’s Leadership

We were all biting our nails. A major election was under way, and the news outlets had made contradictory predictions. While a statistician who has accurately predicted the outcome of elections in the last 30+ years forecasted a Republican win, polls seemed to support the Democratic nominee’s chances. Wisely, my husband suggested we go to bed early, since we could not control the outcome, and such a decision maximized the likelihood that we would get a reasonable night’s sleep.

I woke up to the news determined to plan how best to work with the new administration to present the key priorities of our patients and APA in the most persuasive way. Other leaders in the country had set the tone: the people have spoken, and now we have to unify and get to work.

APA and I sent out an urgent message the day after the election: we are poised to spring into action to work in partnership with the Trump administration and Congress on issues of importance to our patients, APA, and our members.

Of course, there are many questions that are unanswered as Mr. Trump did not release a formal mental health plan during his campaign. Yet, we know that several issues that are greatly relevant to our patients and our profession were on the president-elect’s platform, such as the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). We will need to listen and watch carefully to identify opportunities to further our manifold causes. APA’s Department of Government Relations will be actively engaged in discussions with Republican leaders and are at the ready to put forth suggestions for their consideration while continuing to work “across the aisle.”

We do have one solid advantage: mental health is a bipartisan issue that affects millions of Americans of all ages and backgrounds. It is for that reason that we pledge to work with President-elect Trump’s administration to ensure these Americans get the care they need. Indeed, APA has long been working with both parties toward passage of the Mental Health Reform Act of 2015 (S 1945), a bipartisan bill introduced by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-Pa.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). As well, we worked with Reps. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) to pass the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015 (HR 2646). In fact, in July HR 2646 passed by a jaw-dropping vote of 422 to 2 in the House to promote evidence-based psychiatric care and research activities, improve enforcement of mental health parity, ensure better coordination of federal mental health resources, and address the critical psychiatric workforce shortage, among others.

While APA gains strength from having a membership with diverse political viewpoints, the Association will always speak in a unified voice to represent the interests of our patients and remain dedicated to achieving comprehensive mental health reform and enforcing parity. This is what is best for our patients and by extension our profession. As president-elect and then as president, Mr. Trump will be spending the next four years implementing decisions that will impact our patients. APA, along with our advocacy partners, needs to bring our perspective to the table and ensure that people with mental illness have access to the high-quality mental health care that they deserve. ■