December 2024 | ANA Equity & Advocacy Bulletin by Sofia Lesica
Dear ANA Community,
Please see the December 2024 Equity & Advocacy Bulletin below. Find more information about our current members, their backgrounds, and positions here.
ADVOCACY OPPORTUNITIES and LEGISLATION TO TRACK
The Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act (H.R. 10073)
Medicare provider payments are estimated to be 26% lower today than they were in 2001 when adjusted for inflation. A further 2.8% cut in Medicare payment rates is scheduled to take effect in January. If providers are not adequately compensated for their work, they may be financially unable to continue taking Medicare patients, reducing access to care.
New bipartisan legislation—H.R. 10073, the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act—would not only prevent the 2.8% cut from taking place next year, but also increase the Medicare payment update by 1.9%, enough to cover half of the projected average practice cost inflation expected to impact clinicians next year. While a deeper, more permanent solution to the failure of Medicare provider
payments to keep pace with inflation will need to be addressed by the new Congress next year, APA Services is joining a wide array of other health care provider organizations in working to prevent next year’s proposed payment cuts from happening.
Consider taking a moment to ask your Representative to cosponsor H.R. 10073 here:
https://www.votervoice.net/APAAdvocacy/Campaigns/118854/Respond
ACCESS in Mental Health Act (H.R. 7924)
As our nation faces a mental health crisis, 158 million U.S. residents —nearly half our population— live in a mental health workforce shortage area. Despite the need for their services, multiple barriers exist to both growing and diversifying the mental health care
workforce.
The ACCESS in Mental Health Act will help to eradicate these barriers by:
Providing grants to Minority-Serving Institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Asian American, Native Alaskan, and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions, and Hispanic Serving Institutions, to create, expand, or improve graduate programs in mental health fields such as psychology, counseling, social work, psychiatry, school mental health, substance use disorder prevention and treatment, and more.
Providing grants of $10,000 per year to students attending these graduate programs to help cover the cost of attendance.
Consider taking a moment to ask your Representatives to support the ACCESS in Mental Health Act (H.R. 7924) here: https://www.votervoice.net/APAAdvocacy/Campaigns/114446/Respond
RECENTLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES:
Wong, C. G., Arastu, S. F., & Ng, R. (2024). Identifying culturally insensitive tests, stimuli, and assessment practices in neuropsychology: A survey of professionals and trainees. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2024.2405064
Schmitt, T. R., Van Patten, R., DesRuisseaux, L. A., Gotra, M. Y., Hewitt, K. C., Peraza, J., … Stringer, A. Y. (2024). New2Neuropsychology (N2N): An organization to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in neuropsychology. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2024.2417860
INITIATIVES:
The AACN Relevance Initiative 2050 Author Acceleration Program
The goal of AACN’s Relevance 2050 Author Accelerator Program is to increase the diversity of neuropsychologists who are authoring and publishing books by:
● Providing one to one mentoring by established book authors to aspiring book authors from underrepresented groups
● Partnering with acquisition editors of major academic publishing houses in order to prove opportunities to network directly with publishers
● Providing book publishing resources and sample proposals
● Creating a supportive online community for peer and mentor support
● Providing regular program monitoring and check-ins
● Providing a stipend to support copyrights, graphics design, networking expenses, research resources, etc
Recently, two books were published through this program:
Mai, L.G., & Vo, L.N. (Eds.). (2025). How to Support the Neuropsychological Health of the Vietnamese Diaspora (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003454694
Menchola, M. (2024). A Brain-Friendly Life: How to Manage Cognitive Overload and
Reduce Glitching. Taylor & Francis.
IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE RESOURCES:
PIF Coalition is a national network advocating for immigrant rights and equitable access to public health and social services. It works to dismantle barriers faced by immigrant communities in accessing vital resources. They provide accessible materials in multiple languages to inform immigrants about their rights and benefits eligibility. This includes toolkits, checklists, and communication templates for community outreach.
MIRA Coalition is a nonprofit organization that supports the rights and integration of immigrants and refugees in Massachusetts and beyond. Founded in 1987, MIRA works on policy advocacy, community organizing, training, education, and strategic communications. Its initiatives aim to empower immigrants and refugees, foster their full participation in society, and advocate for inclusive policies. Their website includes resources including immigrants’ rights and assistance with citizenship applications.
This Google drive has an extensive amount of resources for immigrants and refugees.
In Solidarity,
Sofia Lesica on behalf of the ANA Advocacy Committee
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Chair: Julia Chen, PhD
Members: Jay Patel, PhD; Sofia Lesica, PhD, Ananya Ruth Samuel, MA, Aya Haneda, PsyD, Alison Chung, MSc
Email: advocacy@the-ana.org
Website: https://www.the-ana.org/advocacy-committee
Our committee will be sending out regular bulletins highlighting recent events and advocacy efforts that we have been tracking. You can also find our updated resources as well as past Equity Bulletinson the ANA website. Feel free to email us at advocacy@the-ana.org with ideas/suggestions for future bulletins.