Telehealth Petition

Dear Telehealth Friends,
Thousands of vulnerable individuals are at risk to lose Telehealth for psychotherapy in California as of February 28, 2023, as noted in the detailed letter below. Indeed, the discontinuation of Telehealth for most of the country is planned for May 2023, posing the loss for hundreds of thousands.

It should not be a choice between risking grave illness versus psychotherapy, whether patients or therapists.

It should not be a choice between being poor and having access to psychotherapy through Telehealth.

That's why I created a petition. Thus far, I have sent copies of this email to Professor Robert Reich (Researcher for Economic Inequity), Alameda County Psychological Association (ACPA), Contra Costa Psychological Association (CCPA), Governor Newsom, Congressman DeSaulnier, Senator Padilla, Senator Feinstein, Secretary Xavier Becerra, U.S. Health and Human Services, President Biden, California Psychological Association (CPA) and other supporters.

Below is a copy of the email I sent in January to Alameda Psychological Association and request for signing the petition. Also please forward to any supportive others that you can.

When the order ends on February 28, 2023, it does not signify the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, but just means that the government has decided that there is no longer an "emergency" and that these mandates no longer need to be held. This creates the opportunity for insurance companies and medi-care/medi-cal to go BACK to making their own decisions around what they do and do not cover or reimburse for. This will be decided per insurance company in their own networks and you would need to contact the ones that you are in-network with to determine what this might mean for your own practice. From my research and communication with CPA, this could vary from requiring occasional sessions to be held in person to insurance companies or medi-care/medi-cal no longer allowing services to be held and paid for by them, in-network, via Telehealth.

My hope is that they continue to allow services to be held remotely as it helps bridge a health care disparity for those that are immunocompromised, those who do not have reliable transportation to appointments, and for those that cannot take time away from childcare and work obligations to attend healthcare appointments. I was hoping my message would encourage the ACPA membership to begin to look into these things and advocate the needs they feel the mandates in the emergency order has helped in the populations they serve.