Why You Need to Know About Federal Laws:
Licensure
laws and other laws impacting counselors often change over time. That's
why it's important to stay informed about the current state of
legislation in the US. View our table below to see important current
laws.
Topic (A-Z)
| Short Description
| Link | Last Action
|
No Surprises
Act
| Beginning January 1, 2022, psychologists and other health care providers will be required by law to give uninsured and self-pay patients a good faith estimate of costs for services that they offer, when scheduling care or when the patient requests an estimate. |
Link
(starts page 1577)
CMS.gov
| Enacted Dec 2020 |
| Medicare | This was part of the Omnibus Federal Spending Legislation. LCPCs and
LMFTs included to directly bill for Medicare eligible clients It is
expected to be active mid 2024. The rules and process to be developed.
To give you an idea, here is the dollar amount at present for an LCSW in IL:
90791 - $155.76
90837 - $101.92 | View Reimbursement rates here Click on Begin Search-Click Accept
| Signed into law by President on 12/29/22 |
| Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) | Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 is a, "federal law that generally prevents group health plans and health
insurance issuers that provide mental health or substance use disorder
(MH/SUD) benefits from imposing less favorable benefit limitations on
those benefits than on medical/surgical benefits."
| Link | The regulation is effective January 13, 2014 |
TRICARE- Healthcare for Uniformed Service Members
| "TRICARE is the Department of Defense’s (DoD)
worldwide healthcare program available to the
beneficiaries in any of the eight uniformed services:
US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, US Space Force, US Marine
Corps, US Coast Guard, Commissioned Corps of the US
Public Health Service and the Commissioned Corps of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
TRICARE-eligible beneficiaries may include Active Duty
Service Members (ADSM) and their families, retired service
members and their families, National Guard and Reserve
members and their families, survivors, certain former
spouses and others."
| Tricare Providers
Tricare Fact Sheet Handbook | N/A |
VA Mental Health Counselors
| This
historic legislation directs the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to
create the first ever federal government classification for mental
health counselors, referred to as an Occupational Series. The Series
will allow counselors to work in federal government agencies under the
title of mental health counselor instead of generic Series that apply to
many professions. Social workers and psychologists have had their own
Occupational Series for decades and it is past time counselors have the
same level of recognition. Creation of an Occupational Series for mental
health counselors has been a top federal priority for national
counseling organizations for many years and is a hard won success. | Public Law No: 116-171. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions) | 10/17/2020 Became Public Law
|
Is There Something We Missed?
If you think there is a law that should be on this page that is missing please contact us at:
Illinois Counseling Association
