Advocate for action on Medicare mental health access

On Nov. 7, 2019, Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced the Medicare Mental Health Access Act (S. 2772), legislation that would eliminate Medicare’s requirement that clinical psychologists first obtain physician approval before seeing patients in certain settings, such as outpatient rehabilitation programs and partial hospitalization programs. APA has been working diligently behind the scenes with several Senate offices to secure introduction of the legislation as the companion to the House bill (H.R. 884), introduced earlier this year by Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), a psychologist, joined by Reps. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Jason Smith (R-Mo.).

Medicare’s physician approval requirement is unnecessary, harmful to patients and outdated; no other health insurance provider requires physician approval before a patient can see a psychologist. For additional information on the Medicare Mental Health Access Act please check our factsheet (PDF, 64KB).

Personal examples of problems and headaches caused by Medicare’s physician oversight requirement will help us demonstrate to Members of Congress the need to support the Medicare Mental Health Access Act. Share your story via email. See examples of such stories (PDF, 42KB).