Medicare Coverage of Licensed Professional Counselors
Position Papers 4.16.2008
The Senate is attempting to develop legislation to forestall billions of dollars in Medicare physician payment cuts scheduled to take effect on July 1st. The pay cuts, of more than 10%, could lead many physicians to stop seeing Medicare beneficiaries.
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Access to Counseling in Department of Defense’s TRICARE Health Services Program
Position Papers 3.21.2008
In January, President Bush signed H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. The President vetoed the first proposed Defense Authorization due to a provision that would allow victims of terrorism to sue foreign governments; he did, however, approve the law after Congress removed the provision.
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Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program (ESSCP) and FY 2009 Federal Education Funding
Position Papers 3.21.2008
In an effort to increase funding for the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program (ESSCP), on March 18, 2008, 32 members of the U.S. House of Representatives (28 Democrats and 4 Republicans) signed onto a Dear Colleague letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.
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Parity of Insurance Coverage for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment
Position Papers 3.20.2008
House and Senate members are working to develop compromise legislation to require most private sector health plans to cover mental health and addictive disorder services in the same manner as other health care services.
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Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
Position Papers 3.20.2008
On January 2008--the 6th anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act being signed into law reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965--President Bush, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, Senate Education Committee Chairman Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), and House Education Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA), each called for renewing the landmark law as soon as possible—preferably this year.
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Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) and Higher Education Budget Reconciliation
Position Papers 3.7.2008
On February 7, 2008, the House passed the "College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007" (H.R. 4137), which reauthorizes Congress the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965. The HEA has been operating on a series of temporary extensions for six years.
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Congress Considering Funding Incentives for Child/Adolescent Mental Health Professionals
Position Papers 1.30.2008
Last June, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) introduced S. 1572, the “Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act of 2007,” in order to establish forgiveness of college loans for counselors working in underserved areas. The Senator joins Representatives Patrick Kennedy (RI-1) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18), who introduced identical legislation in the House of Representatives last May.
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Federal Hate Crimes Legislation: Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act
Position Papers 1.28.2008
On December 6, 2007, House and Senate conferees on the FY 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (DAA) confirmed that the Matthew Shepard Act (S. 1105), which had passed the Senate as an amendment to the DAA bill in September, would be removed from the final version of the bill.
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Progress on Implementation of New Veterans Affairs Law
Position Papers 1.24.2008
The ACA has met with staff from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Congressional offices to begin the process of implementation.
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Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007
Position Papers 11.26.2007
The House of Representatives approved on November 7, 2007, a bill granting broad protections against discrimination in the workplace for gay men, lesbians and bisexuals.
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