OPA’s Advocacy Committee actively works as your advocate to promote and support public policy that protects and advances the profession of psychology, insures public access to psychological services and addresses compelling public policy issues that may have an impact on psychology and its consumers. Committee members monitor more than a dozen bills during each Ohio General Assembly session. They connect with legislators to gain support for OPA efforts and testify before Assembly members.
The legislature operates in two-year sessions. The One Hundred Thirty-Fourth Ohio General Assembly, composed of the Ohio State Senate and the Ohio House of Representatives, convened in Columbus, Ohio on January 4, 2021 and is scheduled to adjourn December 31, 2022.
OPA efforts include reintroducing legislation that was not passed in the last two-year session.
PSYPACT: The Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT) is an interstate compact designed to allow licensed psychologists to practice telepsychology and conduct temporary in-person face-to-face practice of psychology across state boundaries legally and ethically without necessitating that an individual become licensed in every state to practice. A PSYPACT bill Senate Bill 2 was introduced in the Ohio Senate where it recently passed.
Prescriptive Privileges: OPA supports prescriptive authority for psychologists with adequate postdoctoral training in psychopharmacology. In Ohio, adults can wait weeks and children wait months to see a psychiatrist for medication. Increasing evidence proves that specially trained psychologists can safely prescribe medication and play a vital role in solving this health care problem.
Fairness Act: The Ohio Fairness Act expands the list of protected classes throughout the Revised Code to include sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. This would provide protection for LGBTQ individuals from employment discrimination, unwarranted terminations, and discrimination in housing and rentals, credit extension, admissions to schools, grades and the awarding of financial aid.
Conversion Therapy: Science recognizes that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender or identifying as other than heterosexual is part of the natural spectrum of human identity and is not a disease, disorder, or illness. OPA supports prohibition of conversion therapy when treating minor patients.
Telehealth Insurance Reimbursement: Establish/modify requirements for telehealth services
* Revised version from OPA website.