The plan includes a variety of executive actions which touch the health care system, including clarifications that the health law does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes and that no federal law prohibits health care providers from reporting threats of violence to law-enforcement authorities.
Politico: Obama Announces Guns Pan
President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced what he called a “common sense measures” plan to reduce gun violence. … He also initiated 23 executive actions aimed at improving background checks, school security and mental health care, in an effort to go around Congress wherever possible. … Aware of the challenges of getting gun-related bills passed, Obama is also taking steps on his own, directing federal agencies to take steps to … improve mental health care. … Other executive orders will include planks on education and mental health(Epstein and Epstein, 1/16).
The Washington Post: Obama Unveils Gun-Control Proposals
President Obama on Wednesday formally proposed the most expansive gun-control policies in generations and initiated 23 separate executive actions aimed at curbing what he called “the epidemic of gun violence in this country” (Rucker and Branigin, 1/16).
The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire: List: Obama’s 23 Executive Actions On Gun Violence
The President is announcing that he and the Administration will: 2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system. … 14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence. … 16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes. 17. Release a letter to health-care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law-enforcement authorities…. 20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental-health services that Medicaid plans must cover. 21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges. 22. Commit to finalizing mental-health-parity regulations. 23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health (1/16).
MORE: Obama Unveils Gun Control Policies