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Marriage & Family Therapists
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> Marriage & Family Therapists
Current as of April 13, 2010 California faces a serious shortage of mental health professionals, particularly in rural areas. Securing the services of mental health professionals poses a great challenge to many health centers across the state and serves as a major barrier to the centers’ abilities to effectively meet the mental health needs of their patients. For a mental health service to be covered by Medicare, the service must be for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness and must be provided via a face-to-face encounter with a recognized provider. Mental health providers presently recognized by Medicare include psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health nurse specialists and clinical social workers. Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs), however, are not recognized by Medicare as reimbursable providers, despite the fact that MFTs have the education, training, and practice rights to provide high quality mental health services. Requirements for MFT licensure include extensive education, training, clinical fieldwork, and rigorous examinations. MFTs stress a systemic, integrated approach to therapy which results in their ability treat patients’ conditions quickly and cost-effectively. MFTs also tend to be lower cost providers than their Medicare-recognized counterparts. California’s mental health system will be strengthened by allowing Marriage and Family Therapists to care for Medicare and Medicaid recipients.
Federal legislation to allow MFT services to be reimbursable my Medicare has been introduced several times in recent Congresses. A real glimmer of hope occurred with health care reform, when Medicare coverage for MFTs and Mental Health Counselor Services was included in the House-passed version of the legislation. Unfortunately, due to the political environment and reconciliation process, this provision was stripped from the final Health Care Reform legislation. Instead, CPCA and its partners, including the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, will work to include this provision in any broader Medicare legislation that is moving this session. At the annual NACHC Policy & Issues Forum in February 2010, CPCA members met with their California congressional delegation to discuss Medicare coverage for MFTs, along with other key issues. Members urged their representatives to co-sponsor the Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2009, H.R. 1693 in the House and S. 671 in the Senate. Currently, there are 19 co-sponsors of H.R. 1693, including five from California: Bob Filner, Grace Napolitano, Sam Farr, Lynn Woolsey, and Linda Sanchez. There are 13 co-sponsors of the Senate version, S. 671, including Senator Barbara Boxer. H.R. 1693 (Gordon) CPCA Documents Websites
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There are no announcements at this time. For questions or more information, please contact Stephanie Berry at (916) 440-8170 or sberry@cpca.org.
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