We are happy to report that the senate has finally introduced legislation that would allow MFTs to be reimbursed under Medicare. The bill, S.1830, the "Mental Health Access Improvement Act", was introduced by Senator John Barasso (R-WY) and co-sponsored by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). Representatives Chris Gibson (R-NY) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) introduced the identical House version, H.R.2759 - Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2015, in June.
Allowing MFTs the opportunity to participate in the Medicare program, the bills expand the number of mental health providers available to beneficiaries and prevents seniors from aging out of their coverage when they turn 65 and go on Medicare. This is especially important when you realize that the CDC has stated that depression, “is the most prevalent mental health problem among older adults,” and that depressive disorders can negatively impact the treatment of other chronic diseases. And while 80 percent of depressive disorder cases can be treated many of them remain untreated or undertreated in older adults. In addition, many Medicare beneficiaries live in mental health professional shortage areas. The shortage will get significantly worse as the Baby Boomers enroll in the program and current mental health service providers retire.
This bipartisan and bicameral legislation is pure common sense. The U.S. Senate has twice passed legislation recognizing MFTs under Medicare (S 1 in 2003 and S 1932 in 2005), while the House also has twice passed such legislation (HR 3162 in 2007 and HR 3962 in 2009).
AAMFT continues to work to build support for the legislation, including a planned major grassroots advocacy push in the fall and direct meetings with legislators to talk about the importance of MFTs in Medicare. For more information please contact Ed Hill at AAMFT at [email protected].
For more information on MFTs and Medicare, go to our website.