NATIONAL HEALTH REFORM
AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR PSYCHOANALYSTS

Jim Pyles, Principal
Theresa Morgan, Legislative Director
Powers, Pyles, Sutter and Verville, P.C.
1501 M Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005
(202) 466-6550
jim.pyles@ppsv.com
January 13, 2012

I. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HEALTH REFORM LEGISLATION

On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), Pub. L. 111-148 (H.R. 3590), and on March 30, he signed into law the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (H.R. 4872) which made several revisions to the prior legislation. Together, the two bills comprise the most sweeping health reform legislation ever enacted in the United States.

When fully implemented they will provide health insurance for an additional 34 million Americans and reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the 2010-2019 period, principally by cutting projected payments to Medicare providers reducing payments to Medicare Advantage programs and increasing taxes.

In mid-November, the U.S. Supreme Court granted three of five separate appeals cases on the constitutionality of the historic healthcare reform bill passed in 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). To date the Court has scheduled five and a half hours (as opposed to the usual one) in March of 2012 for oral argument, and the entire case will be argued over two days. The Court will likely have a decision in June, meaning the outcome could significantly affect the politics of the 2012 presidential election.

CIPS and MHLG

CIPS has been working with Mental Health Liaison Group (MHLG) to urge the federal government to provide “parity” in mental health benefits as part of the minimum benefits package to be included in new insurance policies for small groups and individuals established in compliance with the Affordable Care Act. The most recent MHLG lobbying letter, directed to the Department of Health and Human Services on January 31, 2012, provided commentary on the proposed approach to defining “Essential Health Benefits” to be included in new policies issued in accordance with the Affordable Care Act. A total of 54 mental health associations signed on to the letter. It was one of the most widely supported letters the MHLG has ever sent.

On the Front Lines of Public Policy Advocacy

An Interview with Dr. Fredric Perlman, Ph.D., F.I.P.A.

What is your role in health care legislation?

I understand from the preliminary communications we’ve had that you are interested in my role as an advocate for professional interests in the legislature and other social contexts. Let me begin by identifying myself a little more fully. I have been the chairman of the Public Policy Committee of the Confederation of Independent Psychoanalytic Societies (CIPS) for the last seven years, and for four of those years I was also president of that association. As a leader of that organization, I was very concerned about...