We Did It! Medicare Reimbursement Now Law
CONGRATULATIONS on an advocacy job well done! Thank you to the thousands of advocates who urged Congress to support this legislation to increase access to mental health in America and promote the counseling profession. WE did it!
What’s next?
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will now update the Medicare reimbursement rules to add LPCs to the Medicare provider list. This process may take 12 months as CMS updates regulatory language and internal systems that will accept LPCs as Medicare providers. During this time, the American Counseling Association and our partners will work with stakeholders, including ACA members, to ensure that the appropriate systems are in place to support the profession. ACA will also work with our partners to conduct trainings to support the needs of LPCs wishing to enroll as Medicare providers.
Through all our efforts and your commitment to advocating for the counseling profession, Congress has come to know and understand our profession and how we support those in need of mental health services.
Please continue amplifying the voices of counselors to make legislative and policy changes for the profession and those served by LPCs by visiting the ACA Take Action Center to continue advocating for the profession today!
Listen to this special episode of ACA's The Voice of Counseling podcast celebrating the bill that just passed allowing Licensed Professional Counselors to work with clients with Medicare insurance! Our guest Brian Banks, the Chief of Government Affairs and Public Policy Officer for the ACA, gives us the rundown on the Mental Health Access Improvement Act, and what’s next for counselors and their clients.
Join us for another special episode on the Mental Health Access Improvement Act. Our guest Guila Todd, from ACA’s Governing Affairs and Public Policy team, and Dr. Victoria Kress discuss the upcoming changes to Medicare reimbursement and best practices for serving older adults and individuals with a disability. Tune in to learn more about this monumental milestone, how counselors can begin to prepare to serve the Medicare population, and advocacy tips.
Medicare Mental Health Workforce Coalition
The Medicare Mental Health Workforce Coalition is a group of national and state organizations collectively representing hundreds of thousands of mental health and addiction disorder providers, clients, patients, and other stakeholders committed to strengthening Medicare beneficiaries’ access to mental and behavioral health care, building the provider workforce we need, and modernizing coordination of delivery and payment systems for that care.
Coalition goal
To increase access to client choice for mental health provider care by passing the Mental Health Access Improvement Act (S.828/H.R.432).
What the bill does
- Provides coverage for licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) and marriage and family therapist (LMFT) services under Medicare.
- Authorizes mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists to develop discharge plans for post hospital services.
What is the Medicare coverage gap?
Outdated language in current Medicare coverage legislation has resulted in many individuals who rely on Medicare experiencing a variety of challenges to getting the care they need, including:
- Limited access to more affordable treatment options
- Lack of continuity of care when individuals in therapy either age into Medicare or become Medicare-eligible due to permanent disability
- Lack of access to 40% of behavioral health professionals with a master’s degree
- Barriers to better integration of physical and mental health care
- Lack of access to coordinated benefits for dual eligible beneficiaries and veterans with Medicare because LPC/MHCs and LMFTs are not recognized as Medicare providers
- Likelihood of foregoing or discontinuing therapy altogether for individuals living in rural areas with few or no available Medicare providers
The Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2021 (S. 828/H.R.432) would close the gap in federal law that prevents MHCs/LPCs and LMFTs from being recognized as Medicare providers. The legislation would give Medicare beneficiaries immediate access to over more than 225,000 additional licensed mental health professionals and help close the widening treatment gap.
A Message from Senator John Barrasso on the importance of the Mental Health Access Improvement Act (S.828)
Coalition members
| American Counseling Association |
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy |
American Mental Health Counselors Association |
| Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness |
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists |
Centerstone |
| Center for Medicare Advocacy |
Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research |
National Association for Rural Mental Health |
| National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors |
National Board for Certified Counselors |
National Council for Mental Wellbeing |
| National Council on Aging |
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To learn more about the work of the Medicare Mental Health Workforce Coalition, email advocacy@counseling.org or call 800-347-6647.