WIth historic passage of health reform, AMHCA continues push for LMHC Medicare eligibility
3.26.10
Decades after numerous U.S. presidents, beginning with Theodore Roosevelt, have sought to reform Americaís healthcare system, President Obama has laid a foundation for significant reform of Americaís healthcare system. On March 23, the president signed into law, H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, following House passage of this Senate bill and a Reconciliation bill that complements it on Sunday March 21.
AMHCA views H.R. 3590 as the cornerstone to hopefully greater reform of the present healthcare system. While some necessary bricks have been laid down with the passage of heathcare reform legislation, other important bricks, such as Medicare inclusion of LMHCs, over time must be placed atop them.
H.R. 3590 should be celebrated for ending the practice of placing lifetime caps on Americansí health insurance policies, for ending the practice of allowing health insurance companies to drop coverage of Americans who become ill or even attend a simple psychotherapy session, and for expanding insurance coverage to millions of Americans. H.R. 3590 makes mental health benefits part of the essential benefits packages to be offered by state insurance exchanges. Additionally, the legislation contains workforce provisions and loan repayment programs to reward licensed mental health professionalsóincluding mental health counselorsówho choose to serve children and adolescents and/or work in areas underserved by mental health professionals.
AMHCA lauds the tireless advocacy efforts of its members. AMHCA and its colleagues at the American Counseling Association (ACA), American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), and California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) lobbied long and hard for inclusion of counselor Medicare eligibility in the final healthcare reform package. A coalition comprised of these groupsí legislative affairs representatives met with over 300 legislators and had over 500 Hill meetings in the past year! AMHCA and its colleagues vow to fight on for LMHC Medicare eligibility!