National Healthcare Law: A Sigh of Relief, yet Need for Ongoing and Strong Advocacy

While we have a lot to celebrate and there was a deep sigh of relief for the time being when the American Health Care Act vote was canceled, we would be ill advised to assume that everything is fine and business will continue as usual. We know there are battles on different fronts on the near horizon.

There is much political motivation to weaken the provisions of the Affordable Care Act that will negatively impact providers of mental healthcare and substance use treatment services and will be irreparably harmful to those they serve. We must continue to advocate strongly for parity to be reinforced and for the Essential Health Benefits to be maintained.

We must not get complacent or feel the problem has been kicked down the road and we can focus only on immediate matters. While the vote on the national healthcare law has been held off, there is a lot of repositioning going on behind the scenes. We need to do everything possible to direct the legislative and regulatory changes to be positive for providers and the individuals they serve.

This is a lot like a boxing match: We are back in our corners for now. The fight has not been won yet.

We must persevere with strong, consistent advocacy.

Let’s get right back in the ring! Write and call your Congressional representatives to solidify their support for a healthcare law that will ensure coverage and access to services for everyone in need, for all health conditions. Click here to access NJAMHAA’s Legislative Handbook, which provides all the contact information you need.