Here is a summary of the Federal Advocacy Activities over the last year. As you can tell, OPA, APA, and I have been busy advocating for a number of issues including preventing Medicare cuts, addressing health disparities, ensuring access to audio only telehealth services, and managing student loan debt.  

July 2020: Scott Barstow, Senior Director of Congressional and Federal Affairs at APA, and I attended a meeting with Senator Wyden to discuss the need for access to audio only telehealth reimbursement.  

September 2020: I met with a representative for Representative Schrader’s office (Congressional District 5) to discuss HR884 (The Medicare Mental Health Access Act/Physician Definition Bill). I was joined by OPA member, Dr. Marsha Green, who shared some powerful stories about the ways in which the physician oversight needed for her work with her Medicare clients created multiple barriers for the work she does with our most vulnerable communities. I also sent letters to our Senators and Representatives asking them to support legislation that would prevent cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates. 

October 2020:  I sent a letter to CMS on behalf of OPA to address the following issues:  opposing Medicare cuts, limiting telehealth restrictions, ensuring payment for telephone only services, and eliminating physician definition. This letter included personal stories from Oregon Psychologists about the ways in which these issues are interfering with the ability to provide needed mental health care to Oregonians.  

Roseann Fish Getchell and I also attended an APA Advocacy Summit. There were two days of trainings and then a third day of virtual meetings with the offices for Senators Merkley and Wyden and Representatives Bonamici and Blumenauer. Dr. Getchell and I had very productive legislative meetings. We discussed the following three pieces of legislation related to student loan debt: HR7761, which provides Support of Public Loan Forgiveness for less than full time work; HR6720, which expands public loan forgiveness to private loans; and HR7449/S4141, which allows students to re-finance their public and private loans at the new historically low rates.  

January 2021: OPA signed on with 393 other state and professional organizations in support of H.R. 8702/S. 5007, which is aimed at preventing further Medicare.  

March 2021: Practice Leadership Conference Advocacy weekend:  Members of the OPA Board of Directors and I had meetings with the offices of all of our Senators and Representatives. Our legislative asks this year included the following three items.  First, we asked for a permanent expansion of audio only telehealth services for Medicare.  Second, we asked for support for legislation making sure private insurers cover telehealth until the end of the public health emergency and for 90 days afterwards.  Finally, we asked for financial support for Graduate Psychology Education in the form of HRSA grants for graduate and internship programs who offer training in interprofessional settings working with underserved communities. George Fox University and OHSU each have a GPE grant. We also asked for financial support in the form of the Minority Fellowship Program; this is a program with SAMHSA/APA to offer fellowships for training psychologists to provide culturally competent services to diverse communities.  

Overall, our meetings went well. As you know, we have very supportive congressional leaders. Drs. Jessica Murakami-Brundage, Morgan Sammons, and I met with Congressman Bentz for the first time; he was elected in District 2 following Congressman Walden’s retirement. The meeting went well and I hope we can continue to foster a health working relationship with our new Congressman.  

Summary: As you can see, this has been a very busy year on the advocacy front. Thank you to all the OPA members who shared their stories with me or who called or wrote to our Senators and Representatives to support these advocacy efforts—we are making a difference. I will conclude this submission with the exciting announcement that I was selected as the APA Congressional Fellow for the 21-22 year. This is an opportunity for me to work on Capitol Hill in a congressional office for 1 year starting in September. I am very excited for this opportunity; I have thoroughly enjoyed the advocacy work I have been doing with OPA/APA and I look forward to the many exciting opportunities in Washington DC. I will be taking a sabbatical from my faculty position at Pacific University to complete the Fellowship. 

Once I am the Congressional Fellow, I have to resign my position as the OPA FAC. I will work with Mary Peterson (Federal Education Advocacy Coordinator) and the OPA BOD to help select someone to fill the FAC role. I will also share some thoughts I have on having a lead FAC and an Assistant FAC since the responsibilities are increasing. If anyone is interested in learning more about the FAC role, please contact me.