VTMHCA News

Spring 2007

 

Content with Insurance Reimbursement Rates?

If Not... You Can Make a Difference!

My name is Pam Sweeney, and I am the legislative advocate, better known as a lobbyist, for the Vermont Mental Health Counselors Association during this legislative session, which started in January of this year. It is my job to convince the 130 members of the Vermont House of Representative and the 30 members of the Vermont Senate to pass legislation that is advantageous to mental health counselors in Vermont. In order to be successful in this endeavor I need your help.

Legislators in Vermont are generally very responsive to their constituents and rely on legislative advocates and their constituents to educate them about issues since none of them have staff to help them deal with the multiple issues they are asked to vote on. I need for you to start educating your local legislators to the dilemma of the low reimbursement rates for Medicaid, the lack of parity that exists for mental health services in our current insurance system, and the lack of acknowledgment in our health care systems of the importance of mental health services for Vermonters. This legislative session is winding down but this summer would be a good time to start educating your legislators.

If you are unsure of the names of your legislators, you can find the names of you state Representative and Senators by going to the Vermont Legislature Home Page and looking under the Publications section, which has a Legislator Directory or you could call the Sargent-at-Arms Office at 802-828-2228 and ask for the name of your legislators. Legislators expect to be contacted at home since they are only in session from January until May.

This legislative session I have been working closely with VTMHCA President Don Rhoades has policy issues and appropriation issues. When have been successful in getting legislation introduced in the Vermont House of Representative and the Senate, which would require mental health parity. The House bill is H.198 and the Senate bill is S.114. The Senate Health & Welfare Committee has taken one day of testimony on S.114 and Don testified and did a fantastic job of educating the committee to the issues being faced by mental health practitioners. Because of bill that have come over from the House to the Senate, the Senate will probably not take up S.114 again until next year's legislative session. The House bill H.198 will not be taken up until next session. That leaves from now until January 2008 to educate legislators to the importance of passing a mental health parity bill.

Don and I have also met with legislators to try and facilitate an increase in Medicaid reimbursement rates. The legislators are sympathetic but with a 40 million-dollar Medicaid deficit looming in 2008 we have not had any success. This is another area where legislators need to understand the problems of accessibility created by the low reimbursement rate.

I have also monitored other bills dealing with mental health issues. H.137 reinstates a Commissioner of Mental Health and has been passed by the House and the Senate and should make to the Governors desk this year. There is also a technical corrections bill to last years Catamount Health bill, H.129, and the reimbursement rate to health care providers is Medicare plus 10%. Catamount registration starts in July and coverage is supposed to start in October. H.129 has been passed by the House and is in the Senate for consideration. There is a new health care reform bill, H.531, which creates new obligations for the Agency of Banking, Insurance, Securities, and Health Care Administration to analyze reimbursement rates. The information could be very useful in furthering the argument that mental health services are not at parity.

Don and a representative of the Vermont Psychological Association and I have been working on talk points for mental health practitioners to use with their legislators. These talking points will be available to you through Caryn , Executive Director of VTMHCA.

I hope to see you at the VTMHCA annual meeting in June.

Pam Sweeney, BS, has been a paralegal who has represented mental health patients and juveniles in State's custody. She has staffed the House Ways & Means Committee in the past, and is currently a Justice of the Peace for the City of Montpelier.