News Releases
396 Results
New Poll: COVID-19 Impacting Mental Well-Being: Americans Feeling Anxious, Especially for Loved Ones; Older Adults are Less Anxious
Nearly half of Americans (48%) are anxious about the possibility of getting coronavirus, COVID-19, and nearly four in ten Americans (40%) are anxious about becoming seriously ill or dying from coronavirus, but far more Americans (62%) are anxious about the possibility of family and loved ones getting coronavirus. This is according to a new national poll released today by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
APA Pledges Continued Support for Affordable Care Act on its 10th Anniversary
Ten years ago today, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law. In addition to its main objective of expanding health insurance coverage to 30 million Americans, the reform package also included a number of elements related to psychiatric care, which have ultimately increased access to treatment for people with serious mental illness and substance use disorder.
America’s Frontline Physicians Recommend Further Actions to Address COVID-19
Today America’s frontline physicians issued a series of recommendations about steps that should be taken to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Our organizations represent more than 600,000 physicians and medical students serving on the front lines of health care. As the nation’s frontline physicians, our members will be diagnosing, testing, treating and counseling millions of patients and their families as the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, spreads throughout the United States and worldwide. They treat patients in rural, urban, wealthy and low-income communities, and are the foundation of the American health care system.
APA Offers Resources to Cope with COVID-19
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19), in addition to its physical health impacts on thousands of Americans, has disrupted the lives of millions more. Many now face uncertainty over their medical condition and that of their families, management of their daily lives, social isolation, financial stressors, and other issues. In the face of this pandemic and the turmoil it has caused, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) offers the following guidance for maintaining mental health and coping with stress.
APA Will Not Hold Its 2020 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, Planning an Online Educational Product
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) today announced the 2020 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia will not take place in the wake of numerous travel restrictions and public health guidance associated with the pandemic spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). The meeting was scheduled for April 25-29. In lieu of the Annual Meeting, the APA will work with speakers to develop an online educational product this spring.
APA Finalizes Purchase of Washington, D.C. Headquarters
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) today announced it had finalized the purchase of its Washington, D.C. headquarters. The APA purchased the top three floors it occupies at 800 Maine Ave., SW, which is part of the Wharf development along the Potomac River waterfront. The APA moved into its headquarters in early 2018 on a lease with the option to buy.
APA Praises Passage of Emergency COVID-19 Funding; Authority to Government to Lift Restrictions on Telehealth Services
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) applauds Congress for passing an $8 billion emergency funding package to address the spread of COVID-19. Among other provisions, the bill allows for the secretary of Health and Human Services to temporarily lift restrictions on Medicare access to telehealth services, such as live videoconference consultations with doctors. This will potentially allow patients with mental health and substance use disorders who may be worried about contracting the virus to continue to receive treatment during this public health emergency.
APA Condemns Unethical Sharing of Therapist Records in Immigration Cases
Recent news reports have brought to light that the therapy records of children detained by immigration officials have been used against them by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in deportation cases. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) condemns the unethical usage of children’s confidential therapy records in a courtroom setting and calls on the government to immediately end this harmful practice.
Dr. Vivian Pender Is Named APA President-Elect
The members of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) have chosen Vivian Pender, M.D., as the medical society’s next president-elect. The results were released today but are not official until the APA Board of Trustees confirms them at its March meeting.
New Research Highlights the Expanding and Valuable Role Telepsychiatry is Playing in Improving Mental Health Care
Two studies released today in the journal Psychiatric Services add to the growing evidence of telepsychiatry’s contribution to improved mental health care. One study examined the use of telepsychiatry in emergency departments nationwide and a second looked at the use of telepsychiatry to improve screening, diagnosis and treatment of pregnancy-related depression.
America’s Frontline Physicians Oppose New Federal Guidance on Medicaid
Representing more than a half-million of America's frontline physicians and medical students, leaders from six major medical organizations—the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, the American Osteopathic Association and the American Psychiatric Association—issued the following joint statement opposing new guidance issued by the U.S. Centers for Medicaid and Medicaid Services (CMS):
Top Organizations Encourage Appeals Court to Rule Against Trump Administration, End Detention of Migrant Children
On behalf of a coalition of the nation’s leading organizations dedicated to the care, health, education, well-being, and welfare of children and families, Arent Fox LLP filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in support of the Plaintiff in Jenny Lisette Flores, et al., v. William Barr, Attorney General of the United States, et al. Nearly thirty organizations steadfastly oppose the Trump Administration’s new regulations that overturn protections guaranteed to immigrant children under the Flores Settlement Agreement (“FSA”).