APA’s Government, Policy, and Advocacy Update (February 2022)

Physician Groups Urge Supreme Court to Uphold Vaccination Requirement

APA joined 15 leading medical organizations in an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to reject challenges to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) emergency temporary standard requiring COVID-19 vaccination and testing for large employers. The brief stated that a stay on OSHA’s requirement “would cause severe and irreparable harm to the public interest.” In mid-January, however, the Supreme Court blocked OSHA’s vaccination and testing requirement for large employers but upheld a vaccination mandate for health care workers at facilities that receive funds from the federal government.

The brief outlined the grave danger that COVID-19 poses to workplace health, noting that COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred among workers in numerous industries and citing studies that found, for example, that adults who tested positive for COVID-19 were significantly more likely to report going to an office or school setting than adults who tested negative. No arguments against the need for vaccination are medically valid, the brief stated, other than to accommodate a medical contraindication.

The amicus brief is posted here.

DOL Highlights Parity Enforcement in Regulatory Agenda

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) included enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) as a top priority in its Fall 2021 Statement of Regulatory Priorities.

The statement emphasizes DOL’s commitment to ensuring workers “have access to the resources they need to manage their mental health.” The work of the Employee Benefits Services Administration (EBSA) to implement MHPAEA “will strengthen health enforcement by clarifying plan and issuer obligations, promote compliance, and address amendments to the Act from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021,” according to the statement. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, which included APA’s priority legislation—the Strengthening Behavioral Health Parity Act—gave EBSA new enforcement abilities (Psychiatric News).

The introduction to the Biden-Harris administration’s Fall 2021 Regulatory Plan noted that DOL, as well as the departments of Health and Human Services and Treasury, “are considering changes to clarify health insurance plans’ and issuers’ obligations to cover mental health and substance use treatment.”

DOL’s Statement of Regulatory Priorities is posted here. The administration’s regulatory plan is posted here.

Legislation to Implement VA Zero Suicide Initiative Introduced

In an effort to reduce the rate of suicide among veterans, Reps. Susie Lee (D-Nev.), Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), Colin Allred (D-Texas), and Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) introduced the VA Zero Suicide Demonstration Project Act (HR 6273).

The APA-supported bill would implement the Zero Suicide Initiative at five VA medical centers. The initiative was founded by the Henry Ford Health Care System. According to the Henry Ford website, the goal of zero suicides was implemented in 2001 and led to an 18-month stretch without a suicide death from 2009 to 2010. This was “a statistically relevant decrease in suicide rates within Henry Ford from its inception,” the website states.

“By implementing Zero Suicide pilot programs at five VA medical centers across the country, the legislation would increase access to safer and concurrent suicide care,” said APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., in a statement. “Bringing the Zero Suicide model of care to our veterans will help foster a cultural shift toward comprehensive suicide treatment and represents an important step in our ongoing effort to give those who defend our country the support and resources they deserve.”

Information about the bill is posted here. The legislation is posted here. ■