AOTA is working to expand access to occupational therapy services for individuals living with mental health and substance use disorders. OT practitioners are uniquely equipped to support these clients in developing healthy routines, coping strategies, and life skills that promote recovery and long-term wellness. Now, we have a powerful champion in Congress: Representative Tim Kennedy (D-NY), an occupational therapist himself, who is leading the charge on this issue alongside Representative Zach Nunn (R-IA) in the House, and in the Senate, Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Senator Tim Scott (R-SC).

The Occupational Therapy Mental Health Parity Act — H.R. 4037 in the House and S. 2847 in the Senate — would ensure that Medicare beneficiaries with a mental health diagnosis have access to occupational therapy services by requiring the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to publish guidance reiterating that someone with a mental or behavioral health diagnosis can receive occupational therapy services – billed through the OT CPT© codes – under Medicare.

By requiring CMS to provide education and outreach to stakeholders about occupational therapy services for a person with a mental health or substance-use disorder, this bill would help Medicare recipients more readily access occupational therapy services as part of their plan of care and decrease denials for these services.

The language from the OT Mental Health Parity Act was included in a larger bill last Congress, S. 3430, the Better Mental Health Care, Lower-Cost Drugs, and Extenders Act, which passed out of a key Senate Committee. This means that the bill could be included in an end-of-year package of bills. But we need to know there is support for its inclusion; the best way your elected officials can show support is by co-sponsoring the bill.

Write to your Members of Congress today and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 4037 / S. 2847, the Occupational Therapy Mental Health Parity Act.