APA supports Obama’s call for mental health investment, reduced gun violence

President Barack Obama recently announced several executive actions to reduce gun violence in the United States.

These actions included tightening requirements for background checks for gun purchasers and upgrading the background system, improved enforcement of existing gun laws, more research on gun safety technology and increased attention on domestic violence.

Renee Binder

Obama called for an additional $500 million to increase access to mental health treatment, as the majority of gun deaths are suicides.

“Gun violence is a public health problem and needs to be addressed as such,” Renee Binder, MD, president of the American Psychiatric Association said in a statement. “We support the president’s efforts to expand background checks, propose policies that respect physician-patient confidentiality, and increase funding for mental health services by $500 million. We will work with Congress to make that funding proposal a reality, as we also work with allies in Congress who are championing comprehensive mental health reform.”

Saul Levin

The administration recently declared a final rule governing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA) to allow certain hospitals and state agencies to report individuals that meet specific circumstances of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

“It is APA’s sense that the final HIPAA/NICS rule released today is well balanced and addresses our previously articulated major concern regarding the need to preserve privacy, incentivize treatment, and prevent any federal law or regulation that ... would require or permit psychiatrists to report their patients directly to NICS or any other federal database,” Saul Levin, MD, MPA, CEO and medical director of the APA, said in a letter to the APA’s Board of Trustees and Assembly.