Great news! At literally the last possible moment (late in the day on 10 October), both sides of Joint Committee on Public Health voted to report the PsyPact bills (H.2528 / S.1487) favorably out of committee. (The House vote was unanimously in favor. Two Senators abstained, the rest were in favor.)
Right now, we need people who live in districts represented in the House Committee on Health Care Financing and the Senate Ways and Means Committee to reach out to your legislators. Tell them how important it is that they check in with their staffers and how important it is that they recognize how tiny the cost of these laws will be to the Commonwealth, and how much really excellent value is provided to those who live here. You can read more about the details of this on the Fiscal Impact page.
There is no actual opposition to PsyPact -- our only barrier is legislative inertia. Legislators need to hear how important this law is to their voters. Everyone who lives in their districts who might need to access high-quality mental health care (that is, everyone!) is being harmed.
What You Can Do:
Click here to find out if you live in a town represented by someone on one of the relevant committees!
If you live in a committee member's district:
Call and email your representative today. A sample phone script is below. Sample emails are linked on the Advocacy Toolkit page.
Tell your neighbors to do the same! Legislators need to hear not just from psychologists, but from those who can speak from the clients' perspectives.
Contact your local newspapers! Our Advocacy Toolkit page has sample drafts for op-ed articles and letters to the editor -- feel free to adapt them to your particular town and circumstances, and get the word out!
Whether or not you live in one of the key districts:
Contact friends/family who do!
Call your own state senators and representatives today! Urge them to start bugging their colleagues.
Post on social media! The Advocacy Toolkit page also has sample language for you to use in social media. Again, feel free to use these as-is or adapt them. In particular, use the hashtag #mapoli to raise awareness amongst those who follow Massachusetts Politics.
Tell us what you did: [ Action Report Form is coming soon ]
Phone Script (for calls to legislators):
“Hello, my name is [Name], and I am a [ licensed psychologist / constituent ] living in [Town]. I’m calling to urge [Representative/Senator X] to help us pass PsyPact (H.2528 / S.1487). Both bills were reported favorably out of committe, and now are in fiscal-impact review.
PsyPact is very important for Massachusetts residents: it expands access to high-quality mental health care, maintains all of the legal protections they already have, and eliminates a huge source of disruptions to their therapy. This is particularly crucial to those who come from vulnerable populations or who need specialty care.
Please help us move this bill forward out of (House) Health Care Financing / (Senate) Ways and Means. Not only is PsyPact not expected to present any substantial additional cost to the Commonwealth, it will likely save money and let the Board of Registration focus on the important work of protecting the public.
We are not aware of anyone actually opposing these bills! Thank you so much!