NBCC and the Medicare Mental Health Workforce Coalition are presenting this webinar as part of an ongoing series to help counselors understand the implications of The Mental Health Access Improvement Act. This legislation will allow counselors and marriage and family therapists (MFTs) to bill Medicare directly for covered services provided to seniors and eligible people beginning Jan. 1, 2024.
Presenters will include Gina Mendola, MSW, from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and Jeanne Vance from the law firm of Weintraub Tobin.
Mendola is the business function lead for the Provider Enrollment and Oversight Group in the Center for Program Integrity at CMS. She provides operations and policy guidance related to Medicare provider enrollment and works with multiple Medicare Administrative Contractors, including Noridian Healthcare Solutions; First Coast Service Options, Inc.; and Novitas Solutions, Inc. She also works with the National Site Visit Contractors, Deloitte SVS West PMO, and Palmetto GBA. Before joining CMS in 2019, she was a social worker and has more than 10 years of experience in the health care field. She received a bachelor’s degree in community and mental health with a minor in counseling and a Master of Social Work degree, both from the University at Buffalo in New York.
Vance is a health care transactions and regulatory attorney who is a partner with the Sacramento, California-based law firm of Weintraub Tobin. She has expertise in Medicare and Medicaid payment and enrollment matters, and health care operations and mergers. Vance provides outside counsel regulatory support to implement large-scale corporate reorganizations, name and branding changes, and change of control transactions for California-based health care providers. Currently, Vance is the chair of the Regulation, Accreditation & Payment Practice Group of the American Health Law Association (AHLA). She is also a former president of the Sacramento Health Law Committee. Vance received her law degree from the University of California Law, San Francisco, and her undergraduate degree from Mills College.
In this webinar, presenters will:
- review the major steps and actions that counselors and MFTs will need to take to enroll in the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program (Parts A and B) prior to Jan. 1, 2024.
- identify the actions that providers will need to take to engage Medicare Advantage (Part C) behavioral health insurance plans to secure participation on individual networks and panels.
- describe in detail key components of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, how reimbursement rates are determined, and implications for practitioners.
- respond to your questions about enrollment issues, the release of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, and potential next steps in the implementation of Medicare Part B coverage of counselors and MFTs.