,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bcef  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,july #ag1     
#bjbe ,mr4 ,barrasso 7for himself and   
,mr4 ,bennet7 introduced the following  
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,finance  ,a ,,bill
  ,to expand psychological mental and   
behavioral health services to ,medicare1
 ,medicaid1 and ,,chip beneficiaries by 
permitting reimbursement of             
psychological services provided by      
certain supervised psychology trainees1 
and facilitating the reimbursement of   
those services4  #a4  ,short title      
,this ,act may be cited as the          
,accelerating the ,development of       
,advanced ,psychology ,trainees ,act or 
the ,,adapt ,act4  #b4  ,coverage and   
coding for qualified psychologist       
services furnished by advanced          
psychology trainees under the ,medicare 
program  7a7  ,coverage  7#a7  ,in      
general  ,section #ahfa7;ii7 of the     
,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4   

#aciex7ii77 is amended--  7,a7 by       
inserting 7#a7 after 7ii72  7,b7 in     
paragraph 7#a71 as added by subparagraph
 7,a71 by inserting 7or furnished by an 
advanced psychology trainee under the   
general supervision of a clinical       
psychologist 7as so defined7 and billed 
by the supervising psychologist7 after  
7as defined by the ,secretary72 and     
7,c7 by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph3  7#b7 ,in this           
subsection3  7,a7 ,the term advanced    
psychology trainee means--  7i7 a       
doctoral intern who is completing a     
required period of supervised           
experiential training through a program 
accredited by the ,american             
,psychological ,association1 not less   
than one year in duration1 before being 
awarded a doctoral degree2 or  7ii7 a   
postdoctoral resident who has obtained a
 doctoral degree in psychology1 is      
seeking a license to practice           
psychology1 and is engaged in a #a- or  
#b-year period of additional supervised 

experiential training to acquire the    
skills or hours required for licensure  
through a program accredited by the     
,american ,psychological ,association or
 a member of the ,association of        
,psychology ,postdoctoral and           
,internship ,centers4  7,b7 ,the term   
general supervision means1 with respect 
to a service1 that the service is       
furnished under the overall direction   
and control of a clinical psychologist  
7as defined for purposes of paragraph   
7#a771 but the supervising              
psychologist's presence is not required 
during the furnishing of the service4  4
  7#b7  ,effective date  ,the amendments
 made by this subsection shall apply to 
services furnished on or after the date 
that is #a year after the date of the   
enactment of this ,act4  7b7            
,development of ,,gc modifier code  ,not
 later than #a year after the date of   
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary of ,health and ,human        
,services shall develop a ,,gc modifier 

code to identify and accurately bill for
 services furnished by an advanced      
psychology trainee pursuant to the      
amendments made by subsection 7a74  #c4 
,guidance to ,states on coverage of     
services provided by advanced psychology
 trainees under ,medicaid and ,,chip    
,not later than #a year after the date  
of enactment of this ,act1 the          
,secretary of ,health and ,human        
,services shall issue and disseminate   
guidance to ,states on strategies to    
overcome existing barriers to coverage  
of services furnished by advanced       
psychology trainees 7as defined under   
section #ahfa7;ii77#b7 of the ,social   
,security ,act1 as added by section     
#b7;a71 through the ,medicaid program   
under title ,,xix of the ,social        
,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #acif et  
seq47 and the ,children's ,health       
,insurance ,program under title ,,xxi of
 such ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #acig;aa et   
seq4774 ,such guidance shall include    
technical assistance and best practices 

regarding each of the following3  7#a7  
,recommended legal mechanisms for       
activating coverage of services         
furnished by advanced psychology        
trainees under such programs4  7#b7     
,recommended billing codes and code     
modifiers for services furnished by     
advanced psychology trainees4  7#c7     
,examples of ,states that have used     
waivers under the ,medicaid program or  
,children's ,health ,insurance ,program 
to enable coverage of services furnished
 by advanced psychology trainees under  
such programs4