Trustees Freeze Dues for 1999, Prepare to Cut Spending

Next year will be the third year in a row that APA members will enjoy a freeze on the amount of their national dues, thanks to a July 26 vote of the Board of Trustees.

The Board unanimously approved a proposal from the APA Budget Committee to extend the two-year-old moratorium on dues increases for a third year. Budget Committee Chair Donald Scherl, M.D., explained that the committee had evaluated the consequences of a small dues increase and a modest dues decrease, but determined that consequences to the Association made either option untenable for the next fiscal year.

From a budgeting perspective, each of the three dues freezes has actually amounted to a drop in the dues dollars that APA can devote to programs and administrative costs. This is because inflation has run between 2 percent and 3 percent each of those years, and since each year's moratorium also bars inflation adjustments to the dues rates, the losses compound as the years go by. Because of compounding of the revenue reduction, next year's extension of the moratorium on dues increases will decrease APA's revenue by about $3.5 million over the next decade, Scherl pointed out, even if inflation-only dues increases resume in 2000 and inflation continues to run at about 3 percent. A 2 percent dues decrease for 1999, a proposal the Budget Committee considered, would, under the same scenario reduce APA's income by $5.9 million by 2008.

APA expects dues income for 1999 to be approximately $11.6 million and projects revenues from all sources to be about $32 million. Of APA's approximately 40,000 members, 29,000 are obligated to pay dues. (Medical student members and those who reached "life" status before January 1993 are among the membership categories that are dues exempt.)

Scherl reported that the Budget Committee would present a complete budget, which will eliminate a projected shortfall of $1.8 million, to the Board of Trustees at its October meeting in Los Angeles.

The Board acted on a number of other issues as well:

• Established an institute for research and education that would be separate from, but affiliated with, APA. The new entity-the American Psychiatric Institute for Psychiatric Research and Education-will greatly improve APA's ability to secure external funding for research and training projects. APA's patient and psychiatrist advocacy efforts often place it at a disadvantage with government and private research grantors who are concerned that APA's involvement in so-called "guild" issues could affect its ability to conduct completely objective services research. Establishment of a freestanding institute will assure potential grantors that their money will not support the Association's political or legislative advocacy efforts.

  The stated mission of the new institute is to "establish the leadership of APA. . .in contributing to the scientific basis of psychiatric practice and policy; strengthening the research infrastructure [in psychiatry]; enhancing and supporting psychiatric education, training, and career development for clinicians and researchers; and improving the quality of psychiatric care by conducting and supporting clinical health services research and training activities."




• Authorized APA's practice guideline project to participate in the National Guideline Clearinghouse, which will increase access to APA's guidelines by allowing those who access the clearinghouse's Web page to link directly to the APA practice guidelines Web page. The Board also approved a process for revising APA practice guidelines that will involve "focused revisions" every three to five years and "major revisions" about every 10 years.



• Endorsed the implementation of a standardized process for joining APA, which, by having the central office coordinate all membership applications, will eliminate the variety of methods the district branches use to enroll potential members. District branches would have 120 days from the time the applicant pays national and district branch dues in which to verify credentials and check ethics standing. This will require a change in the Constitution and Bylaws before it can be implemented.



• Increased the fees APA will charge for industry-supported symposia at the 1999 Annual Meeting from $35,000 to $45,000.



• Approved a position statement on the misuse of psychiatric examinations and disclosure of psychiatric records in sexual harassment lawsuits, which discusses confidentiality safeguards and cases in which it is appropriate or ethically troubling to disclose a plaintiff's psychiatric records.



• Endorsed model legislation developed by the Council on Psychiatry and Law that state lawmakers can use to craft statutes in three areas: licensure of "physicians making medical necessity determinations," assigning burden of proof in medical necessity decisions in which third party payers reject treatment recommendations made by a beneficiary's physician, and the use of managed care drug formularies.



• Heard Nada Stotland, M.D., chair of the Joint Commission on Public Affairs, announce that Industrial Light and Magic, a film production and special effects company owned by director George Lucas, has agreed to produce pro bono a $300,000 public service announcement on suicide prevention for APA.