Bipartisan Mental Health Bill Would Ensure Medicare Beneficiaries Access To Clinical Psychologists

Increased access to mental healthcare services for older Americans is the intention of legislation introduced this month by Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin and a handful of his Republican and Democratic colleagues. 

The bipartisan measure would ensure Medicare beneficiaries have access to clinical psychologists across all settings of care.

The Increasing Mental Health Options Act of 2023 would update the Medicare program to ensure Medicare beneficiaries can access clinical psychologists directly for mental health services, regardless of the care setting.

“Many Rural Americans have trouble accessing the quality health services they deserve,” Sen. Mullin (R-OK) in a said statement. “This bill will remove unnecessary barriers that have kept psychologists, who are well-equipped to provide mental health care, from delivering care to seniors under Medicare. It will also modernize Medicare statutes to ensure independent practices, like the ones in my state, are covered.”

In the midst of what most experts agree is a national mental health crisis, Oklahomans can take some comfort in knowing that, per capita, Oklahoma ranks high in the number of mental health professionals practicing in the state. But that’s tempered by the state’s high uninsured rate and high rate of mental illness.

"We all have that aunt, that uncle, that brother, that sister, that cousin that has been affected by it," Mullin said in an interview last week, "and it affects the whole family."

Sen. Mullin said it's time to remove the stigma surrounding mental illness and start viewing it differently.

"Let’s treat this the same way you would treat the flu or you treat a broken arm or you would treat any other medical illness that’s facing you," Sen. Mullin urged, "and let’s make sure that we have access to [treatment]."

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is the lead sponsor of the bill with Mullin, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) signed on as co-sponsors. 

The CBO has yet to attach a cost estimate to the legislation.

Mullin said the bill will remove a barrier that's kept many seniors from getting the care they need and kept independent practitioners from being part of the mental healthcare solution. He said the issue is near and dear to his heart.

"The more you increase access [to treatment]," Mullin said, "the more the stigma removes from it."

Sen. Mullin joined Connecticut Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal in introducing another bipartisan health bill Tuesday; it would reauthorize federal funding for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, to boost research on brain aneurysms.