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Mental Health Key Component of President Obama's Gun Control Executive Orders

Client Alert | 1 min read | 01.22.13

On January 16, 2013, President Barack Obama issued the Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions. Of the 23 Executive Actions, 3 in particular are particularly notable to the healthcare industry:  

  • No. 20 is an order to "Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover."
  • No. 21 is an order to "Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges."
  • No. 22 is an order to "commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations."

The orders can be read via the Washington Post.

President Obama also released a memo to the HHS Secretary, instructing the HHS to conduct research on the cause and possible solutions to gun violence, with a focus on the research issues with an impact on public health. Specifically, the memorandum directs HHS to begin by "identifying the most pressing research questions with the greatest potential public health impact, and by assessing existing public health interventions being implemented across the Nation to prevent gun violence." Click to read the memorandum as published in the Federal Register.

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House Advances Bipartisan Kids' Online Safety Bill, But Senate Showdown Looms

On June 22, 2026, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) announced a bipartisan agreement on a revised version of the KIDS Act (H.R. 7757), marking the most significant congressional advance on children's online safety legislation in years. The House passed H.R. 7757, as amended, on June 29, 2026, setting up a potential showdown with the Senate. The revised KIDS Act consolidates elements of 14 pending legislative proposals — including KOSA and COPPA 2.0, both of which have previously passed the Senate and cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee — into a single, comprehensive framework. The announcement, however, was met immediately with objections from Senate sponsors and civil liberties groups, underscoring the difficult legislative road ahead....

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