Advocacy

A major strategic goal of the Ohio Psychiatric Physicians Association is to advocate on behalf of our patients and our profession.

The legislative and government agencies impact significantly both our profession and our patients. Hundreds of laws are introduced each legislative session - some good, some not so good. Some get passed into law, some don't. There are two vital parts to the legislative process where OPPA and our members can have tremendous impact:

Legislative

It is vital that we make our voices heard and our positions known. We do this by lobbying activities on specific bills, with contributions through OPPAC  and testifying before the Ohio General Assembly (the Legislature). For nearly all legislative bills introduced, there will be proponents (in favor of) and opponents (against). One thing is for certain, regardless of the position taken by OPPA on a bill, there will be others who take the opposite position. If we are not engaged, then decisions get made without our input. The most effective way requires active participation of individual OPPA members. 

Regulatory

Once a bill passes the General Assembly, and is signed into the law by the Governor, the various regulatory agencies (i.e., State Medical Board, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy and others), promulgate rules to carry out the policies and intent of laws passed. Most generally, a state agency will draft rules and seek written feedback from stakeholders (at least one time). Taking that feedback into consideration, the agency will then pass the final rules. Below are resources to assist members in reviewing draft rules and providing feedback to the state agency - with a copy to OPPA.

To learn more about how to review drafts rules and provide your feedback, click here.

To learn even more about the details of the rule-making process, click here.

To learn more about the rule-making process, watch these videos on rule-making.

YOUR VOICE AS A CONSTITUENT IS VITAL!

Please check out the other pages in this section as well as the Members Only section to see how you can get involved!