Grassroots Action Center
Help Mental Health Counselors Serve Rural and Underserved Communities
Millions of Americans live in areas with severe shortages of mental health providers, yet Medicare's bonus payment program—designed to attract providers to underserved areas—excludes the very professionals delivering most behavioral health care today.
The More Behavioral Health Providers Act (H.R. 7324) fixes this outdated policy by expanding Medicare Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) bonus payments to include Mental Health Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Clinical Social Workers, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, and Clinical Psychologists who provide mental health and substance use disorder services in shortage areas.
Why This Matters:
- Provider shortages are severe. Mental health HPSAs are designated when the population-to-provider ratio exceeds 30,000:1. Entire counties lack adequate access to mental health care.
- Current policy is outdated. Medicare HPSA bonuses are limited primarily to Physicians, even though Counselors, Social Workers, Therapists, and Nurse Practitioners provide the majority of community-based mental health services.
- Nearly 65,000 Mental Health Counselors are now enrolled in Medicare and serve beneficiaries nationwide—but receive no financial incentive to practice in the underserved communities that need them most.
- Demand is unprecedented. Rates of anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, and suicide have surged, placing enormous strain on emergency departments and community health systems.
The bill increases bonuses from 10% to 15% for mental health and substance use disorder services in mental health HPSAs and extends eligibility to the full range of behavioral health professionals—helping attract and retain providers where they’re needed most.
Urge your Congressional representatives to cosponsor the More Behavioral Health Providers Act (H.R. 7324) today.
