,i  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #hbjf  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,september #aa1      
#bjbj,ms4 ,judy ,chu of ,california 7for
 herself and ,mr4 ,smith of ,nebraska7  
introduced the following bill2 which was
 referred to the ,committee on ,ways and
 ,means1 and in addition to the         
,committee on ,energy and ,commerce1 for
 a period to be subsequently determined 
by the ,speaker1 in each case for       
consideration of such provisions as fall
 within the jurisdiction of the         
committee concerned  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
clarify the eligibility for             
participation of peer support           
specialists in the furnishing of        
behavioral health integration services  
under the ,medicare program4  #a4 ,short
 title ,this ,act may be cited as the   
,promoting ,effective and ,empowering   
,recovery ,services in ,medicare ,act of
 #bjbj or the ,,peers ,act of #bjbj4    
#b4 ,clarifying the eligibility for     
participation of peer support           

specialists in the furnishing of        
behavioral health integration services  
under the ,medicare program  7a7 ,in    
general ,nothing in title ,,xviii of the
 ,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4  
#acie et seq47 shall be construed as    
prohibiting a peer support specialist   
7as defined in subsection 7b77 from     
participating in the furnishing of      
behavioral health integration services  
under such title under the supervision  
of a physician or other entity billing  
for such services under such title4  7b7
 ,peer support specialist defined ,for  
purposes of subsection 7a71 the term    
peer support specialist means an        
individual who-- 7#a7 is recovering from
 a mental health or substance use       
condition2 and  7#b7 is certified as    
qualified to furnish peer support       
services under a certification process  
consistent with the ,national ,practice 
,guidelines for ,peer ,supporters and   
inclusive of the ,substance ,abuse and  
,mental ,health ,services               

,administration ,core ,competencies for 
,peer ,workers in ,behavioral ,health   
,settings 7as established by the ,state 
in which such individual furnishes such 
services or under such national         
certification process determined        
appropriate by the ,secretary of ,health
 and ,human ,services74