MEDICARE: NC's two Republican senators will not vote for psychologists to have a decent wage : (& NCPA is not working on it)

I talked to Diane Pedulla, attny associated with American Psychological Association in D.C. (as per below).

ALL Medicare providers will benefit as re: the Save Medicare Act re: blocking the cut.

There is no gain; there is simply no (further) loss.

The Baucus/Snowe bill would benefit psychologists in terms of the below detail matter.

It would allow me, a licensed psychologist, for instance, BY 2014 to be able to use 96152, the Behavioral Health Code (80/20 rate) which APA talks up.

However, in NC, psychologists are not being reimbursed using this code and are stuck at the reimbursement rate of approx $55/ 90806 (45-50 min of therapy).

I am asking Tony Puente what he knows re: if ANYONE who is a psychologist in NC is being reimbursed for the Behavioral Health Codes.

*****You would think that NCPA would be working on this matter*****

marsha v. hammond, phd
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Dr. Hammond: Both the Save Medicare Act (S.2785) and the Baucus / Snowe bill would block the pending 10.6% SGR cut and replace it with a positive update through December 2009.

This would increase payments for all Medicare services.

However, we are urging members to ask their Senators to support the Baucus / Snowe bill because it contains important provisions that would greatly benefit psychologists.

Specifically, the Baucus / Snowe bill includes:

***Extra money for psychotherapy: Under the Baucus / Snowe bill,

***Medicare payments for psychotherapy services would be increased by 5% for the period from July 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009.

***Medicare mental health parity: The Baucus / Snowe bill would eliminate the outpatient mental health treatment limitation. This would be phased out over a six-year period so that mental health would have the same co-pay (80/20) as other services by 2014.

**Increasing the pay for reporting bonus: The Baucus / Snowe proposal would raise the bonus payment under Medicare pay for reporting program from the current rate of 1.5% to 2% for 2009 and 2010.

I hope this information is helpful to you.

Diane M. Pedulla, J.D. Director, Regulatory Affairs -

Practice American Psychological Association

750 First St., NE Washington, DC 20002-4242

Phone: 202-336-5889 Fax: 202-336-5937 E-mail: dpedulla@apa.org