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Vermont advocates
for master’s level psychologists
(November
2007 Issue)
By Elinor Nelson
In a mountainous and rural state like Vermont, access to clinicians
can be a problem. The closed roads during mud and snow seasons certainly
don't help. So when the state began to license psychologists in
the mid 1970's, it created a special category for master's level
psychologists. According to the licensing board, Vermont now licenses
209 Psychologist-Masters and 370 Psychologist-Doctorates - leaving
those master's level practitioners with a sizeable chunk of the
therapy pie.
With so many of their psychologists at the master's level, the
Vermont Psychological Association has been lobbying its Congressional
delegation for four years to sponsor legislation requiring Medicare
to reimburse "any independently licensed mental health professional,
which leaves up to the state to determine who to license," says
Martin Fino, Ph.D, VPA's federal advocacy coordinator. He explains
that Medicare now reimburses doctoral level psychologists and will
reimburse Psychologist-Masters if the patient is referred by a physician
who is in the building when the services are provided.
While the services are billed by the physician and payment is at
a higher rate than, a master's level licensed clinical social worker,
the VPA considers this system to be a barrier to the independence
to which Psychologist-Master providers are entitled under Vermont
law and to the access that Medicare recipients require.
At the moment, there are several relevant bills pending in Congress
and, adds Fino, "while the Congressional delegation appears to be
sympathetic, to date they haven't included the language. We're hoping
that within a year they will do so." Some of the new proposed legislation
includes language mandating Medicare reimbursement for licensed
mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists, but
not for Psychologist-Masters. The VPA points out that Vermont law
requires just as much academic and supervision-training for Psychologist-Masters
as for the mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists.
In Vermont, the VPA says, most insurance companies including Medicaid
will reimburse Psychologist-Masters. The VPA's Web site (vermontpsych.org)
includes advocacy information for members who would like to get
involved.
There are currently 25 states that license psychologists with master's
degrees, either independently or under continuing supervision. But,
according to the North American Association of Master's in Psychology,
"[t]he situation is in flux," with three new states recently acquiring
independent practice status for master's level psychologists and
many other states considering new legislation.
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