On Thursday, June 26th the Senate voted 58 to 40 to take up H.R. 6331, legislation to postpone a July 1st Medicare physician pay cut of 10.6%, after the House of Representatives passed the legislation on Tuesday by a strong bipartisan vote of 355-59. The 58 votes were two short of the 60 needed in the Senate to close debate, preventing the legislation from moving forward as Congress left town for the July 4th recess. Senate Republicans have largely sided with President Bush in opposing the legislation because of its reductions in government payments to private managed care companies participating in the Medicare program. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has stated he intends to bring the legislation up for a vote again when Congress returns next week. Although H.R. 6331 does not establish Medicare coverage of counselors, it does include a provision to remove the discriminatory 50 percent copayment requirement for outpatient mental health services. (Medicare requires only a 20% copayment for other types of outpatient treatment.) Consequently, AMHCA and the American Counseling Association (ACA) have endorsed the legislation. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Beth Powell, American Mental Health Counselors Association, 800-326-2642 x105 (bpowell@amhca.org) or Scott Barstow, American Counseling Association, at 800-347-6647 x234 (sbarstow@counseling.org)
