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Contact Your Senators to Encourage Support for S.
1760
As you may know, Congress is in recess until Labor Day. Following is an
AMHCA Legislative Alert
addressing our latest effort to secure Medicare coverage of mental
health counselor's services. Please take a moment to familiarize
yourself with the following information and then take the necessary
action! Your help with this is greatly appreciated.
Counselor Inclusion in Medicare
The U.S. Senate failed to pass legislation in late July creating a
prescription drug benefit for low-income Medicare beneficiaries. Not
addressed by the Senate at that time was the need to reform the way
Medicare pays for provider and other health care services. This debate
was put off until the Senate reconvenes in September.
AMHCA, in conjunction with the sponsors of our Medicare legislation,
Sens. Craig Thomas (R-WY) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), is mounting a
major initiative to get Medicare coverage for Mental Health Counselors
included in the Medicare provider payment reform legislation planned for
September. Your help in this effort will be critically important to our
success.
Phone calls are one of the most effective means of
communication. The phone number for the Capitol Switchboard is
202-224-3121. Ask for your Senator by first and last name. When the
receptionist answers, ask for the staff person that covers Medicare
issues. You can also call Senators' offices in your state. Numbers can
be found in the "U.S. Government" section of your local phone
book.
Following is a sample script for your use when
making these calls:
As a constituent and a mental health counselor in your state, I urge you
to include the Thomas-Lincoln Bill, S. 1760, providing Medicare
beneficiaries access to Licensed Mental Health Counselors, as part of
the Medicare provider reform package. Inclusion of Counselors in the
Medicare program will benefit Medicare recipients by increasing their
choice of providers and expanding access to mental health services in
rural areas.
As baby boomers age, the need for an adequate supply of qualified
Medicare mental health providers becomes critical. The Archives of
General Psychiatry indicates that the current health care system is
unprepared to meet the upcoming crisis in geriatric mental health.
Authorizing licensed mental health counselors to provide services under
the Medicare program will help meet the needs of this expanding
population. Furthermore, mental health counselors are in countless rural
counties, hundreds of which have no psychiatrist, so recognizing the
profession will significantly expand access to services.
Please help our seniors to get needed mental health care by recommending
inclusion of the Thomas-Lincoln bill, S. 1760, in the Medicare provider
reform package. Thank you.
Following is a sample letter for you to send to
your Senators on the Medicare issue:
Date
The Honorable (first and last name)
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator (last name):
As you may know, access to mental health services continues to be a
serious problem for the elderly in our state. As a Mental Health
Counselor, I am trained and recognized to provide mental health services
to elderly individuals. Unfortunately, I am restricted in my ability to
serve elderly patients because Medicare does not recognize me as an
independent licensed mental health provider.
Bipartisan legislation (S. 1760) has been introduced in the Senate by
Sens. Craig Thomas (R-WY) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) that would
authorize Medicare Part B coverage for appropriately qualified Licensed
Mental Health Counselors. Medicare coverage would be limited to those
mental health services already covered by Medicare that a counselor is
legally authorized to provide by state law.
When the Congress reconvenes in September, it is expected that the
Senate will consider a bill to reform Medicare provider payments. Sens.
Thomas and Lincoln are working to get their legislation (S. 1760)
included in this provider payment reform bill.
I am writing to ask you to contact Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus
(D-MT) and Ranking Republican Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and urge them to
include the Thomas-Lincoln mental health counselor coverage proposal in
the provider reform package.
It is well recognized that the elderly are experiencing increasing
difficulty accessing mental health services. Mental health counselors
are well qualified to meet this unmet need, but because we cannot be
reimbursed by Medicare to provide these services, we are unable to be of
assistance. Your support for the Thomas-Lincoln initiative would be
greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Your name and credentials
We cannot stress enough the importance of the timing of your
communications. It is critically important that your Senators hear from
you on this issue during the next two weeks. Once Congress reconvenes in
September, legislation will be moving fast and furious. The value of a
communication is much greater now, during this August "down
time" than when the Senators are back in Washington, DC.
Please take a few minutes out of your busy schedule over the next two
weeks to write or call your Senators about the importance of Medicare
coverage of mental health counselors. If you have any questions about
this initiative or need more information, please feel free to contact
Beth Powell at 800-326-2642, ext. 105 or by e-mail at bpowell@amhca.org.
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