AMA House Acts on DACA, Mental Health Issues

• Support for DACA-eligible health care professionals. Delegates voted to have the AMA issue a statement in support of health care professionals, including those training as medical students or residents and fellows, working in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA is a policy begun by President Barack Obama in 2012 that allows certain undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as minors to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit. President-elect Donald Trump has said he will eliminate DACA.

• Primary care and mental health training in residency. The House approved a resolution calling on the AMA to advocate for the incorporation of integrated services for general medical care, mental health care, and substance use disorder care into existing psychiatry, addiction medicine, and primary care training programs’ clinical settings. Additionally, the AMA will encourage graduate medical education programs in primary care, psychiatry, and addiction medicine residency training programs to create and expand opportunities for residents and fellows to obtain clinical experience in an integrated behavioral health and primary care model, such as the collaborative care model.

• Removing restrictions on federal funding for firearms violence research. The House voted to have the AMA provide an informational report on recent and current organizational actions taken on existing AMA policies regarding removing the restrictions on federal funding for firearms violence research, with additional recommendations for future policy.

• Eliminating a fail-first policy in addiction treatment. Delegates voted to have the AMA advocate for the elimination of the “fail-first” policy implemented by some insurance companies and managed care organizations for addiction treatment. The policy requires, for example, that a patient fail an outpatient program before receiving an appropriate level of care.

• Improving mental health at colleges and universities for undergraduates. House delegates voted to support strategies that emphasize destigmatization and enable timely and affordable access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment for college undergraduates.

• Establishing and achieving national goals to prevent lead exposures to children and eliminate lead poisoning. Delegates voted to call on the U.S. government to establish national goals—and appropriate strategies to achieve the goals—ensuring that no child has a blood lead level greater than 5 μg/dL by 2021 and eliminating lead exposures to pregnant women and children, so that by 2030, no child will have a blood lead level greater than 1 μg/Dl.

• Faith and mental health. The House approved a resolution calling on the AMA to support mental health and faith community partnerships that foster improved education and understanding for faith leaders regarding culturally competent, medically accepted, and scientifically proven methods of care for psychiatric and substance use disorders. Additionally, the AMA will support efforts of mental health providers to create respectful, collaborative relationships with local religious leaders to improve access to scientifically sound mental health services.

• Maintenance of certification and insurance plan participation. Delegates voted to have the AMA increase its efforts to work with the insurance industry to ensure that maintenance of certification does not become a requirement for insurance panel participation.

The AMA House of Delegates meets twice a year to establish AMA policy on health, medical, professional, and governance matters, as well as the principles within which the AMA’s business activities are conducted. ■