APA Services applauds Senators Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) and John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) and Representatives Nicole Malliotakis (R-New York) and Judy Chu (D-California) for introducing the bipartisan, bicameral Increasing Mental Health Options Act (IMHO). The proposed bill would reverse outdated Medicare rules that prohibit psychologists from working with patients in key settings for Medicare, including skilled nursing facilities, partial hospitalization programs, comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facilities, inpatient psychiatric hospitals and home health agency services, until treatment is approved by a physician, which needlessly delays care. IMHO would also extend Medicare bonus payments to psychologists for services provided in communities designated as mental health professional shortage areas.
"One in three newly admitted nursing home residents arrives already struggling with depression or anxiety, yet their path to timely help is often blocked by an outdated Medicare provision,” said Arthur C. Evans, Jr., PhD, CEO of the American Psychological Association.
To address these antiquated policies and extend incentives to psychologists, IMHO would:
- allow psychologists participating in Medicare to independently provide services in all Medicare treatment settings, as they are allowed to do in Medicare office-based settings, under private sector health plans, in tricare, and within the Veterans Health Administration;
- incentivize the treatment of mental and behavioral health conditions in rural and underserved areas by making psychologists eligible for Medicare bonus payments for services provided in areas with a shortage of mental health professionals; and
- maintain long-standing Medicare requirements on psychologists’ consultation with patients’ physicians in accordance with accepted professional ethical norms.