ADVOCACY UPDATE White House , AARP Support Inclusion of Mental Health Counselors Under Medicare

Calling the nation ’ s growing mental health woes as a “ crisis ,” President Joe Biden described his vision to “ transform how mental health is understood , perceived , accessed , treated , and integrated — in and out of health care settings .” He also noted that the “ center of our national mental health crisis is a severe shortage of behavioral health providers .”

To remedy that , the president ’ s March 29 budget “ includes a recommendation to allow mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists to bill Medicare for mental health services ,” noted the National Board for Certified Counselors ( NBCC ). “ This is the first time that a president ’ s budget has made the specific recommendation to Congress to allow Medicare to reimburse the two professions ,” NBCC said , bit . ly / 3JHar5h .

AARP endorsed the proposed Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2021 , because the legislation “ would add an estimated 225,000 licensed behavioral health providers to those available to Medicare beneficiaries ,” bit . ly / 3uGZyMC .

For more information about the White House plan , see the White House fact sheet — bit . ly / 3uafEhw ; and its roundtable on mental health with young women and girl leaders — bit . ly / 37n3fhv .

ADVOCACY UPDATE

Please join AMHCA in tweeting , posting on Facebook , emailing , and calling your members of Congress to support making mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists Medicare-eligible providers : www . amhca . org / advocacy / medicare .

See page 8 for some of the Tweets and Facebook posts from our Feb . 16 Virtual Advocacy Day .

ADVOCACY UPDATE AMHCA Supports Several Legislative Bills That Would Benefit LCMHCs

By Beverly Smith , PhD , LPC , NCC , CCMHC , ACS , NCSC , CFT , HS-BCP , BCC , MAC , CPCS , BC-TMH , CCTP , BCPCC 45 ^th AMHCA President , 2021 – 2022 , and Interim CEO / ED

Following are just three of the legislative bills that AMHCA supports , in collaboration with the Mental Health Liaison Group ( MHLG ), a coalition of national behavioral health organizations .

• Virtual Peer Support Act of 2021 ( S . 157 and H . R . 2929 ): This legislation aims to create a grant program to expand online behavioral health services and increase peer-support programs . See bit . ly / 3CN156d . ( See the MHLG letter of support here : bit . ly / 3qBrZsU .)

• Kids Online Safety Act ( KOSA ) ( S . 3663 ): This legislation is intended to increase accountability and transparency of social media companies and to protect young social-media consumers . See bit . ly / 3wd7Gpj .

• Anna Westin Legacy Act ( S . 3686 ): bit . ly / 3qbNUXn . See the MHLG letter of support here : bit . ly / 3uwPIM2 . The original “ Anna Westin Act passed in December 2016 , marking the first time in history that Congress passed legislation specifically written to help people affected by eating disorders ,” according to a press release from Sen . Klobuchar ’ s office . “ The original act increased training and education on eating disorders and set rules for insurance companies that meant residential eating disorder treatment would be covered under most health insurance plans . It was enacted as part of the 21st Century CURES Act .”

AMHCA joined these advocacy efforts to address the mental health concerns of our youth in the Statement for the Record to the Senate Finance Committee for the Hearing on Protecting Youth Mental Health . ( Read the MHLG statement at bit . ly / 37bivy1 .)

Lastly , AMHCA is advocating to delay the tele-mental health services provision that requires mental health professionals who want to offer tele-mental health sessions to clients to have seen those clients in person within the prior six months .

This requirement is in accordance with the Telemental Health Care Access Act ( H . R . 4058 / S . 2061 ). ( For more information on S . 2061 , visit : bit . ly / 3qaCsLG ; for information on H . R . 4058 , visit : bit . ly / 3KTSYI5 .)

ADVOCACY UPDATE The ‘ No Surprises Act ’: What Counselors Need to Know

By Aaron Norton , PhD , LMHC , LMFT , AMHCA ’ s Southern Region Director ; Consulting Editor , The Advocate Magazine ; and Executive Director of the National Board of Forensic Evaluators

Ever gotten a “ surprise bill ” after a surgery or other medical procedure and felt frustrated that no one bothered to tell you about the fee before the procedure ? You ’ re not alone .

According to Dec . 2021 article published by Kaiser Family Foundation , bit . ly / 3JeZKqI , in 20 percent of emergency

continued on page 7

6 The Advocate Magazine 2022 , Issue # 1 American Mental Health Counselors Association ( AMHCA ) www . amhca . org