LEGISLATIVE ALERT
American Mental Health Counselors Association
801 N. Fairfax Street, Ste. 304
Alexandria, VA 22314
Contact Congress to Urge Support for Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act
Dear Mental Health Counselor:
As this is being written, Congress is putting in place the building blocks for a major national health care reform debate. Indeed, the House and Senate may start moving health care reform legislation as soon as June. AMHCA has received information from a senior House staffer that the measure is likely to contain significant Medicare provisions. In short, the first session of the 111th Congress presents us with our best opportunity in almost a decade to achieve our long-sought goal of Medicare reimbursement for licensed mental health counselors (LMHCs). Legislation authorizing Medicare payment for LMHCs—The Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2009—has already been introduced in the House and Senate: H.R. 1693 and S. 671.
AMHCA needs your help to pass these vital bills as part of a larger health care reform package. To support you, we have developed the following materials:
- A standard grassroots letter (see text below) that we are hoping you will send to your House member and both Senators from your home state. This correspondence provided is merely a template. Please feel free to modify it in any way you see fit to better reflect local conditions.
- Talking points, should you decide to follow up the correspondence with personal contacts to your members of Congress. (See text below letter)
While we know that you have busy personal and professional lives, please act today! If you have any questions, please contact Al Guida, AMHCA's lobbyist, at 202-331-1120, or via e-mail. Or, contact AMHCA's new director of legislative affairs, Julie Clements, at 1-800-326-2642 or via e-mail.
To borrow a phrase: Yes, We Can!
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
W. Mark Hamilton, PhD
Executive Director & CEO
American Mental Health Counselors Association
DRAFT LETTER TO CONGRESS
(please copy this text or go to the link below to download the draft to place on your letterhead and personalize as you see fit)
May____, 2009
The Honorable_______
____House/Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
RE: Please Co-Sponsor S. 671/H.R. 1693: The Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2009.
Dear Senator/Representative:
I am writing to strongly urge you to co-sponsor S. 671/H.R. 1693, The Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act, which would establish Medicare coverage for licensed professional mental health counselors. With the exception of a recent federal law that finally equalized outpatient co-payments for mental health and medical/surgical services, the baseline Medicare mental health benefit has not been updated in almost 20 years. This inaction has consequences.
Improve Access in Rural Areas and among Underserved Minority Populations:
Approximately 77 million older adults live in 3,000 mental health professional shortage areas. Yet over 50% of rural counties have no practicing psychologists, psychiatrists or social workers. It is shocking to note that fully two thirds of rural residents with mental illness symptoms receive no treatment at all. As a direct result of this lack of access, older Americans with chronic medical conditions and major depression (nearly 2 million senior citizens nationwide) have significantly higher rates of disability than those with either condition alone.
Similarly, in a report entitled "Mental Health: Culture, Race and Ethnicity," the United State Surgeon General noted that "striking disparities in access, quality and availability of mental health services exist for racial and ethnic minority Americans." A critical result of this disparity is that minority communities bear a disproportionately high burden of disability from untreated or inadequately treated mental disorders.
Making Medicare a Better Purchaser of Mental Health Care:
Inpatient psychiatric hospital utilization by elderly Medicare recipients is extraordinarily high—particularly when compared to psychiatric hospitalization rates for patients covered by Medicaid, VA, TRICARE and private health insurance. To the extent that fully one third of these expensive inpatient placements are caused by clinical depression and addiction disorders, it is strikingly clear that additional community-based mental health services provided by licensed professional mental health counselors will reduce unneeded hospitalizations.
The bottom line is: lack of access to mental health care is increasing both the burden of disability on our senior citizens and minority communities as well as the financial burden on the Medicare program. Take action today. Co-sponsor H.R. 1693/ S. 671.
Sincerely,
TALKING POINTS
- Lack of Access: Fully 50% of rural counties have no practicing psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers.
- Burden of Disability: Senior citizens with chronic medical conditions and depression experience a significantly higher incidence of disability. Furthermore, according to the U.S. Surgeon General, disparity in access to mental health care is causing "racial and ethnic minority communities to bear a disproportionately high burden of disability from untreated" mental disorders.
- Make Medicare a More Efficient Purchaser: Relative to patients who receive coverage from other federal programs or private health insurance, Medicare-eligible seniors are higher utilizers of inpatient psychiatric hospital services.
- All of these problems have a single cause: senior citizens and minority Americans can’t obtain access to mental health care. Do something about this problem by establishing Medicare reimbursement for LPCs. Co-sponsor S. 671 and HR 1693 today!
- To download a copy of the sample letter to place on your letterhead click on this link: AMHCA grassroots letter
