ADAPT Act

Accelerating the Development of Advanced Psychology Trainees Act or the ADAPT Act

This bill provides for Medicare coverage of services that are furnished by advanced psychology trainees. It also requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to issue guidance for states on coverage options for such services under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2511 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2511

   To expand psychological mental and behavioral health services to 
Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP beneficiaries by permitting reimbursement 
  of psychological services provided by certain supervised psychology 
    trainees, and facilitating the reimbursement of those services.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 26, 2023

  Mr. Barrasso (for himself and Mr. Bennet) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To expand psychological mental and behavioral health services to 
Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP beneficiaries by permitting reimbursement 
  of psychological services provided by certain supervised psychology 
    trainees, and facilitating the reimbursement of those services.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Accelerating the Development of 
Advanced Psychology Trainees Act'' or the ``ADAPT Act''.

SEC. 2. COVERAGE AND CODING FOR QUALIFIED PSYCHOLOGIST SERVICES 
              FURNISHED BY ADVANCED PSYCHOLOGY TRAINEES UNDER THE 
              MEDICARE PROGRAM.

    (a) Coverage.--
            (1) In general.--Section 1861(ii) of the Social Security 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(ii)) is amended--
                    (A) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(ii)'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1), as added by paragraph (1) of 
                this section, by inserting ``(or furnished by an 
                advanced psychology trainee under the general 
                supervision of a clinical psychologist (as so defined) 
                and billed by the supervising psychologist)'' after 
                ``(as defined by the Secretary)''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
    ``(2) In this subsection:
            ``(A) The term `advanced psychology trainee' means--
                    ``(i) a doctoral intern who is completing a 
                required period of supervised experiential training 
                through a program accredited by the American 
                Psychological Association, not less than one year in 
                duration, before being awarded a doctoral degree; or
                    ``(ii) a postdoctoral resident who has obtained a 
                doctoral degree in psychology, is seeking a license to 
                practice psychology, and is engaged in a 1- or 2-year 
                period of additional supervised experiential training 
                to acquire the skills or hours required for licensure 
                through a program accredited by the American 
                Psychological Association or a member of the 
                Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship 
                Centers.
            ``(B) The term `general supervision' means, with respect to 
        a service, that the service is furnished under the overall 
        direction and control of a clinical psychologist (as defined 
        for purposes of paragraph (1)), but the supervising 
        psychologist's presence is not required during the furnishing 
        of the service.''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
        shall apply to services furnished on or after the date that is 
        1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Development of GC Modifier Code.--Not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall develop a ``GC'' modifier code to identify and 
accurately bill for services furnished by an advanced psychology 
trainee pursuant to the amendments made by subsection (a).

SEC. 3. GUIDANCE TO STATES ON COVERAGE OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY ADVANCED 
              PSYCHOLOGY TRAINEES UNDER MEDICAID AND CHIP.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall issue and disseminate 
guidance to States on strategies to overcome existing barriers to 
coverage of services furnished by advanced psychology trainees (as 
defined under section 1861(ii)(2) of the Social Security Act, as added 
by section 2(a), through the Medicaid program under title XIX of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) and the Children's Health 
Insurance Program under title XXI of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et 
seq.)). Such guidance shall include technical assistance and best 
practices regarding each of the following:
            (1) Recommended legal mechanisms for activating coverage of 
        services furnished by advanced psychology trainees under such 
        programs.
            (2) Recommended billing codes and code modifiers for 
        services furnished by advanced psychology trainees.
            (3) Examples of States that have used waivers under the 
        Medicaid program or Children's Health Insurance Program to 
        enable coverage of services furnished by advanced psychology 
        trainees under such programs.
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