,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #agig  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,may #ae1 #bjbe
 ,mr4 ,barrasso 7for himself and ,mr4   
,coons7 introduced the following bill2  
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,finance  ,a ,,bill  ,to 
amend title ,,xviii of the ,social      
,security ,act to improve access to     
mental health services under the        
,medicare program4  #a4  ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the          
,expanding ,seniors ,access to ,mental  
,health ,services ,act4  #b4  ,improved 
access to mental health services under  
the ,medicare program  7a7  ,access to  
clinical social worker services provided
 to residents of skilled nursing        
facilities  7#a7  ,exclusion of clinical
 social worker services from the skilled
 nursing facility prospective payment   
system  ,section #ahhh7;e77#b77;,a77iii7
 of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db     
,u4,s4,c4 #acieyy7e77#b77;,a77iii77 is  
amended by adding at the end the        

following new subclause3  7,,vii7       
,clinical social worker services 7as    
defined in section #ahfa7;hh77#b774  4  
7#b7  ,conforming amendment  ,section   
#ahfa7;hh77#b7 of the ,social ,security 
,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #aciex7hh77#b77 is  
amended by striking and other than      
services furnished to an inpatient of a 
skilled nursing facility which the      
facility is required to provide as a    
requirement for participation4  7b7     
,access to the complete set of clinical 
social worker services  ,section        
#ahfa7;hh77#b7 of the ,social ,security 
,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #aciex7hh77#b771 as 
amended by subsection 7a77#b71 is       
amended--  7#a7 by striking for the     
diagnosis and treatment of mental       
illnesses 7other than services and      
inserting 1 including services for the  
diagnosis and treatment of mental       
illnesses or services for health and    
behavior assessment and intervention    
7identified as of ,january #a1 #bjbc1 by
 ,,hcpcs codes #ifaef1 #ifaeh-ifafa1    

#ifafd-ifafh1 and #ifagj-ifaga 7and any 
succeeding codes77 but not including    
services2 and  7#b7 by striking         
inpatient of a hospital7 and inserting  
inpatient of a hospital14  7c7          
,effective date  ,the amendments made by
 this section shall apply to items and  
services furnished on or after ,january 
#a1 #bjbf4