I know it's a long shot but is anybody here going to the State Psychologist Association New Mexico/ prescribing psyhologist conference in Albuquerque on March 22?
No, though I wish I had known about it as I'd be interested in hearing about how things are going.
Edie, do you by chance know the bill designation? HR? I'd like to read it.There is an American Psychological Associtation (APA) podcast which I posted last week in the psychopharmacology thread here on SDN. In it, Dr. McGrath speaks about the current status of RxP. Basically, two separate RxP bills passed the first chamber in both New Jersey and Illinois last year and now both bills are going to the other chamber of their respective state's legistaure this year. In addition, Beto O'Rourke is sponsoring a bill in Congress to allow psychologists to prescribe in the Veterans' Adminsistration
Edie, do you by chance know the bill designation? HR? I'd like to read it.
This is the letter sent to a colleague:
Thank you for writing in support of allowing all qualified VA psychologists to prescribe psychotropic medications to veterans.
The El Paso VA Medical Center (VAMC) faces a critical shortage in mental health capacity and many veterans I speak with are not receiving the care or medicine they need. I am looking at all possible solutions to fix this unacceptable situation, and am working to introduce legislation in the next month allowing qualified VA psychologists to prescribe medication and be moved up to hybrid status in pay scale.
Changing VA's current policy would increase veterans' access to necessary mental healthcare while ensuring VA is able to compete with the private sector and the Department of Defense to hire top mental health professionals.
Thanks again for contacting me. I invite you to keep up with the latest votes, legislation, and work from our office on Facebook where we provide daily updates. You can also get more information on the web.
Sincerely,
Beto O'Rourke
Member of Congress
_____________________________
There has been lots and lots of behind-the-scenes lobbying by the American Psychological Association to increase psychologists' pay scale in the V.A. as well as to pass RxP in either New Jersey or Illinois this year. A lot of exciting developments are in process!