Bill > S1797

This bill aims to improve mental health services for Medicare beneficiaries, particularly seniors in skilled nursing facilities, by making several key changes to existing Medicare regulations. Specifically, the bill would exclude clinical social worker services from the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Prospective Payment System, allowing these services to be billed separately, and expand the range of mental health services that clinical social workers can provide. The bill removes previous restrictions that limited clinical social workers from providing certain services to nursing home residents and adds coverage for health and behavior assessment and intervention services, using specific Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes as a reference. These changes would take effect on January 1, 2026, and are designed to give seniors in skilled nursing facilities greater access to comprehensive mental health support by removing bureaucratic barriers that previously limited the scope and billing of clinical social worker services under Medicare.

Budget and Finance

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1797/all-info