Proposed Bill Would Add Mental Health To Medicare

All Headline News (USA): A proposed bill would bring marriage and family therapists and licensed counselors under Medicare's coverage. The proposal has drawn strong opposition from the American Psychiatric Association, which says it would waste government money by increasing spending for marriage counseling or family troubles without improving care for more serious problems like schizophrenia. Sen. Craig Thomas, R-WY, introduced the proposal, which has become an amendment to legislation designed to cut federal spending by $36 billion over 10 years. Thomas promoted his plan in a press release that noted one-fifth of all rural counties have no mental health service of any kind. He said the health care professionals he wants to add to Medicare's list of providers are often the only mental health professionals available. Leibfried says many states prohibit professionals with a Masters'-level education from diagnosing and treating serious mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Thus, when brought into Medicare, they would primarily bill for services they are allowed to diagnose, such as marriage counseling or family breakdowns, he adds. "That's a worthwhile thing," Liebfried says. "But if you're going to fix something first, let's make sure we're opening access to people with more serious conditions."