[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 25, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3806-S3807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SENIORS MENTAL HEALTH ACCESS AND IMPROVEMENT ACT

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I am honored to join my colleague from 
Arkansas, Senator Blanche Lincoln, in introducing Nos. 671, the Seniors 
Mental Health Access Improvement Act.
  For over a decade, Senator Lincoln has been a strong voice advocating 
for health care policies in the Senate that apply specifically to rural 
communities. I am proud to join her as we fight to ensure Medicare 
patients living in rural and in frontier States have access to and a 
choice of their mental health professionals.
  The Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act will permit marriage 
and family therapists and licensed professional counselors to bill 
Medicare directly. These providers will then receive 75 percent of the 
rate that psychiatrists and psychologists receive for the same 
services.

[[Page S3807]]

  I want my colleagues to know that S. 671 does not expand covered 
Medicare services. It would simply give Medicare patients who are 
living in isolated frontier States, such as Wyoming, more choices for 
mental health providers.
  Today, approximately three-quarters of the nationally designated 
mental health professional shortage areas are located in rural areas. 
Over half of all rural counties have no mental health services of any 
kind. Frontier counties have even more dramatic numbers--95 percent do 
not have a psychiatrist, 68 percent do not have a psychologist, and 78 
percent do not have a social worker. Virtually all of Wyoming is 
designated a mental health professional shortage area.
  In Wyoming, there is a total of 474 mental health providers who are 
currently eligible to care for Medicare patients and bill Medicare for 
their services--474. Additionally, we have over 500 licensed 
professional counselors and 61 marriage and family therapists who are 
currently licensed to practice. None of them are able, at this time, to 
charge Medicare for the services they provide. By enacting this Seniors 
Mental Health Access and Improvement Act, that would more than double--
more than double--the number of mental health providers available to 
treat seniors in my State.
  Medicare patients in Wyoming are often forced to travel great 
distances to see mental health providers who are currently recognized 
by the Medicare program. To make matters even more of a challenge, 
rural and frontier communities have a tough time recruiting and 
retaining these providers--all providers but especially mental health 
care providers. In many small towns, a licensed professional counselor 
or a marriage or family therapist is the only mental health care 
provider in the area.
  Medicare laws only compound the current situation.
  Right now, only psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, clinical 
social workers, and clinical nurse specialists can bill Medicare for 
mental health services. So it is time the Medicare Program recognizes 
the qualifications of licensed professional counselors and marriage and 
family therapists. They do play a crucial role in this Nation's mental 
health care.
  These providers go through rigorous training, and it is similar to 
the curriculum of a master's level social worker. They must not be 
excluded from the Medicare Program. I believe S. 671 is critically 
important to the health and the well-being of our Nation's seniors. It 
is time for this bill to become law.
  I yield the floor.

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