[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2173 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2173

 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to improve access to 
           mental health services under the Medicare program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 8, 2015

 Ms. Stabenow (for herself and Ms. Mikulski) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to improve access to 
           mental health services under the Medicare program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Improving Access to Mental Health 
Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVED ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES UNDER THE MEDICARE 
              PROGRAM.

    (a) Access to Clinical Social Workers.--Section 1833(a)(1)(F)(ii) 
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395l(a)(1)(F)(ii)) is amended by 
striking ``75 percent of the amount determined for payment of a 
psychologist under clause (L)'' and inserting ``85 percent of the fee 
schedule amount provided under section 1848''.
    (b) Access to Clinical Social Worker Services Provided to Residents 
of Skilled Nursing Facilities.--
            (1) In general.--Section 1888(e)(2)(A)(ii) of the Social 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395yy(e)(2)(A)(ii)) is amended by 
        inserting ``clinical social worker services,'' after 
        ``qualified psychologist services,''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 1861(hh)(2) of the 
        Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(hh)(2)) is amended by 
        striking ``and other than services furnished to an inpatient of 
        a skilled nursing facility which the facility is required to 
        provide as a requirement for participation''.
    (c) Access to the Complete Set of Clinical Social Worker 
Services.--Section 1861(hh)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395x(hh)(2)) is further amended by striking ``for the diagnosis and 
treatment of mental illnesses (other than services'' and inserting 
``(including health behavior assessment and intervention (identified as 
of January 1, 2015, by HCPCS codes 96150 through 96155 (and any 
succeeding codes)), but not including services''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to items and services furnished on or after January 1, 2016.
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