Recent posts
APA, Medical Partners Protest Proposed Rule That Could Deny Care to Transgender, Women Patients
American Psychiatric Association Tues May 28, 2019 APA and five other medical specialty organizations issued a statement today protesting a proposed ruleby the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that would weaken nondiscrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) individuals under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. Section 1557 prohibits discrimination in health... read more
The Los Angeles Times By Amy Scattergood Jun 06, 2019 On a recent Tuesday morning, about two dozen people gathered around a long table in the old brick building that houses the Jacobsen Salt Co. in Portland, Ore. All were somehow connected to the restaurant industry: chefs, line cooks, servers,... read more
Los Angeles Times By Noam N. Levey May 02, 2019 Soaring deductibles and medical bills are pushing millions of American families to the breaking point, fueling an affordability crisis that is pulling in middle-class households with health insurance as well as the poor and uninsured. In the last 12 years, annual deductibles in job-based... read more
The New York Times By Gayle Brandeis May 8, 2019 Suicide can leave the survivors with anger, confusion and guilt, and even well-intentioned words can cause pain. It can be hard to know what to say to a person in the thicket of grief; when someone is grieving a... read more
American Psychiatric Association Wed Apr 10, 2019 APA is protesting the implementation of a ban that goes into effect on Friday, April 12, on transgender individuals serving in the military. As of that day, the Department of Defense (DoD) is requiring transgender service members to follow the standards of their biological sex or be removed... read more
Los Angeles Times By Noam N. Levey Apr 2, 2019 There used to be a lot of health insurance horror stories like Charley Butler’s. After the Montana truck driver was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2016, his insurer balked at paying tens of thousands of dollars in medical... read more
Los Angeles Times By Melissa Healy Mar 27, 2019 After three suicides in 10 days involving people directly affected by school shootings, there’s renewed interest in a condition that psychologists call “complicated grief.” Long after a mass-casualty event, roughly 10% of people experience the enduring or chronic depression and... read more
American Psychiatric Association Wed Mar 27, 2019 The Trump Administration’s recent decision not to protect any part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in a federal case challenging the constitutionality of the ACA places the health care of millions of Americans at risk, say APA and five of... read more
American Psychiatric Association Mar 7, 2019 by Linda M. Richmond The proposal would erode the protections now granted to most psychiatric medications in Medicare Advantage and Part D drug plans, subjecting them to prior authorization, step therapy, and exclusion from formulary lists. APA strongly opposes a Trump administration prescription drug proposal aimed at patients... read more
The New York Times By Reed Abelson March 5, 2019 In a scathing decision released Tuesday, a federal judge in Northern California ruled that a unit of UnitedHealth Group, the giant health insurer, had created internal policies aimed at effectively discriminating against patients with mental health and substance abuse disorders... read more