Medicare Coverage for LMHC's please advocate!!

Ask Senator Charles Schumer to vote YES on

Medicare coverage of Licensed Mental Health Counselors!

This TUESDAY, September 22nd, the Senate Finance Committee will start voting on health insurance reform legislation, including major Medicare changes. Your Senator Charles Schumer is on the committee, and we need him to VOTE YES on the Lincoln Amendment to establish Medicare coverage of licensed mental health counselors (LMHCs) and marriage and family therapists (MFTs).

The health bill introduced by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus unfortunately does NOT include counselor coverage. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) is expected to offer an amendment to include counselor Medicare coverage in the bill, and we need Senator Schumer and as many other Senators as possible to vote for the Lincoln Amendment.

ACA and AMHCA have been working to gain Medicare coverage of counselors for a long, long time, and we need Senator Schumer to know that his constituents in New York—meaning you!—support including Medicare coverage of counselors in the legislation he will be voting on next week. LMHCs are well-trained, qualified, cost-effective mental health professionals, and should be covered under Medicare. The Senate has already approved counselor Medicare coverage legislation in both 2003 and 2005, and with the increasing size of the beneficiary population, counselor coverage is an even better idea now.

Please take a moment to do one or more of the following:

1. Call Senator Schumer’s office in Washington DC—at 202-224-6542—and ask to talk to an aide who handles Medicare issues. Whether you talk to this person or are asked by the receptionist to leave a message, describe in your own words why Medicare should cover licensed mental health counselors, and ask the Senator to vote YES on Senator Lincoln’s amendment to establish Medicare coverage of counselors and marriage and family therapists. The amendment would improve Medicare beneficiaries’ access to outpatient mental health services. Be sure to leave your name and postal address so that the Senator can get back to you.

2. Send Senator Schumer an e-mail conveying the same message. You can do this by visiting the Senator’s webpage at http://schumer.senate.gov/new_website/contact.cfm.

3. Call one of Senator Schumer’s offices in the state near you, and talk to a staff member as in #1. His district office phone numbers are as follows:

New York 212-486-4430

Buffalo 716-846-4111

Rochester 585-263-5866

Albany 518-431-4070

Binghamton 607-772-6792

Syracuse 315-423-5471

Peekskill 914-734-1532

Melville 631-753-0978

Thank you in advance for your time and assistance; it could make the difference between success or failure on this issue!

For more information contact either Scott Barstow with the American Counseling Association at sbarstow@counseling.org (800-347-6647 x234) or Julie Clements with the American Mental Health Counselors Association at jclements@amhca.org.

Scott Barstow

Director of Public Policy and Legislation

American Counseling Association

5999 Stevenson Avenue

Alexandria, VA 22304

703.823.9800 x234
703.405.9711 (cell)

703.823.0252 (fax)
800.347.6647 x234
703.823.6828 TDD
sbarstow@counseling.org
www.counseling.org