VTMHCA News
2006
President's Welcome
Don Rhoades, MA LCMHC
VTMHCA's mission in the past 5 years has been to promote our licensure to ensure that we may practice in a free market place. As an organization, we have been busy promoting our work politically, as well as, facilitating important changes. Although we cannot list all of our accomplishments, the Board would like to tell you a little bit about what has been happening this past year.
VTMHCA has been in the forefront of legislative advocacy at the State level. In the last two years we participated in the drafting of three landmark bills that are unique in the country. This legislation has dramatically improved the circumstances for mental health counselors in Vermont.
H404, has been passed in to law. This bill eliminated closed "provider panels" for managed care companies. If you are licensed to practice counseling in Vermont, you are now eligible to be on any managed care roster as long as you are willing to accept their "terms and conditions." This law has gone in to effect July 1, 2006.
H411, seeks to eliminate parity differences that still exist between medical and mental health/substance abuse services, such as needing prior authorization for routine care, denial of care for chronic conditions, and differences in the size of discounted fees between medical and MH/SA providers. This bill is in the House Human Services Committee at present.
H254, seeks to allow the formation of provider bargaining groups to negotiate fees with managed care organizations and other entities. It expands the current Medicaid waiver in Vermont for negotiating fees.
VTMHCA is helping
to fund a report by a nationally recognized expert in managed care to
show businesses and other large buyers of insurance plans how managed
care takes money away from direct care, restricts services, and is actually
more costly than straight indemnity plans that are unmanaged and improves
reimbursement to clinicians. This document will be used to convince large
buyers of insurance, such as businesses, not-for-profits, and government,
to buy plans that do not burden or limit mental health/substance abuse
services. View the Wrich Report
Here!
VTMHCA is well
represented at the monthly Council of Mental Health Professionals, which
consists of representatives from all the state professional organizations.
Major issues are discussed, public figures are invited to speak with the
group, and positions are taken on matters affecting the entire scope of
mental health/substance abuse delivery in Vermont..
VTMHCA sees legislative
advocacy as a primary focus for us to serve the needs of our membership.
A former VTMHCA president, Peter Mahar, MS LCMHC is on the American Mental
Health Counseling Association (AMHCA) Board of Directors. AMHCA, our national
association is also focusing on legislative changes at the national level
as a way to promote our profession.
VTMHCA Provides:
a newsletter
with important information about our profession,
a website, www,vtmhca.org,
with valuable information and links,
an ongoing discussion
board where you may join your colleagues in up to the minute issues
facing us all,
free ethics CEUs
at the VTMHCA Annual Meeting during licensure years,
reduced fees
on our conferences and much more.
Would all of this be worth the receipts from two billable hour per year?
Please consider joining VTMHCA and supporting your professional organization,
so that we may continue the work we are doing for all LCMHCs.
If you are not already a member or have been a member in the past, we want to ask you to join/rejoin VTMHCA, and to be part of the promotion for LCMHCs throughout Vermont and the USA. As you know, the VTMHCA Board is made up of volunteers who donate time to make critical improvements in the field of mental health counseling, so that we may continue to do our work. It has not always been easy, and it has not always been fast, but we persevere. We need to increase our membership in order to continue in our efforts.
THANK YOU.
Sincerely,
Don Rhoades, MA LCMHC
VTMHCA President
