Arizona Legislator Amish Shah, M.D., M.P.H., Receives APA ’s Javits Award for Public Service

Amish Shah, M.D., M.P.H., an emergency medicine physician and member of the Arizona House of Representatives, was awarded the 2024 APA Jacob K. Javits Public Service Award for his dedication to improving access to quality care, and his advocacy for mental health reform. TheJavits Award is APA ’s highest honor for contributions to the field of mental health by a federal or state public official.“Not only in hospitals but also in the Arizona House of Representatives, Dr. Shah has left his mark as a distinctly skilled and dedicated voice for mental health,” said APA President Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A., in a statement. “His tireless efforts include working across the aisle to pass leg islation like ‘Jake’s Law,’ promoting important mental health interventions such as the Collaborative Care Model and advocating for youth to more easily access mental health care services.”Jake ’s Law, signed into law by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey in 2020, authorizes the state division of insurance to enforce the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and ensure insurance companies are complying with parity requirements. The law also allocated $8 million to support behavioral health services for children who are uninsured or underinsured. The law is named in honor of Jake Machovsky, an Arizona teen who lost his life to suicide in 2016." I am deeply honored to receive the Jacob K. Javits Public Service Award from the American Psychiatric Association, ” Shah said in a stateme...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Amish Shah Arizona Gagan Singh Jacob K. Javits Jake ’s Law Javits Award mental health parity public official Source Type: research