The Senate Finance Committee's legislation to improve mental healthcare in the U.S. plans to increase access to Medicare funding for therapy and more, according to a draft of the legislation released by the Senate Sept. 22.
Here are seven major takeaways from the proposed legislation.
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- Use Medicare funding to add 400 residency positions to teaching hospitals for training new psychiatry and psychiatry subspecialty providers.
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- Allow Medicare Part B to cover mental health services provided by marriage and family therapists and licensed professional counselors.
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- Make clinical social worker services more accessible under Medicare.
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- Expand Medicare's Health Professional Shortage Area bonus program, which gives mental health and primary care providers who practice in areas designated as shortage areas a 10 percent incentive payment.
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- Give each state the flexibility to choose its own strategy to increase its behavioral health provider capacity.
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- Require Medicaid to guide states on strategies to increase the mental health workforce.
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- Loosen Medicare's direct supervision requirements to make it easier for patients to see a wider range of mental health practitioners.