119-s683

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 683 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 683

 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand eligibility 
 for incentives under the Medicare health professional shortage area 
 bonus program to practitioners furnishing mental health and substance 
 use disorder services.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 February 24, 2025

Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Daines) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand eligibility 
 for incentives under the Medicare health professional shortage area 
 bonus program to practitioners furnishing mental health and substance 
 use disorder services.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``More Behavioral Health Providers Act 
of 2025''.

SEC. 2. EXPANDING ELIGIBILITY FOR INCENTIVES UNDER THE MEDICARE HEALTH 
 PROFESSIONAL SHORTAGE AREA BONUS PROGRAM TO PRACTITIONERS 
 FURNISHING MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER 
 SERVICES.

 

Section 1833
            (m) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395l
            (m) ) is 
amended--

    (1) by striking paragraph

    (1) and inserting the following 
 new paragraph:
 ``

    (1) In the case of--
 ``
        (A) physicians' services (other than specified health 
 services that are eligible for the additional payment under 
 subparagraph
        (B) ) furnished in a year to an individual, who is 
 covered under the insurance program established by this part 
 and who incurs expenses for such services, in an area that is 
 designated (under 

section 332

    (a)

    (1)
        (A) of the Public Health 
 Service Act) as a health professional shortage area as 
 identified by the Secretary prior to the beginning of such 
 year, in addition to the amount otherwise paid under this part, 
 there also shall be paid to the physician (or to an employer or 
 facility in the cases described in clause
        (A) of 

section 1842

    (b)

    (6) ) (on a monthly or quarterly basis) from the Federal 
 Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund an amount equal to 
 10 percent of the payment amount for the service under this 
 part; and
 ``
        (B) specified health services (as defined in paragraph

    (5) ) furnished in a year to an individual, who is covered under 
 the insurance program established by this part and who incurs 
 expenses for such services, in an area that is designated 
 (under such 

section 332

    (a)

    (1)
        (A) ) as a mental health 
 professional shortage area as identified by the Secretary prior 
 to the beginning of such year, in addition to the amount 
 otherwise paid under this part, there also shall be paid to the 
 physician or applicable practitioner (as defined in paragraph

    (6) ) (or to an employer or facility in the cases described in 
 clause
        (A) of 

section 1842

    (b)

    (6) ) (on a monthly or quarterly 
 basis) from such Trust Fund an amount equal to 15 percent of 
 the payment amount for the service under this part.'';

    (2) in paragraph

    (2) --
        (A) by striking ``in paragraph

    (1) '' and inserting 
 ``in subparagraph
        (A) or
        (B) of paragraph

    (1) ''; and
        (B) by inserting ``or, in the case of specified 
 health services, the physician or applicable 
 practitioner'' after ``physician'';

    (3) in paragraph

    (3) , by striking ``paragraph

    (1) '' each 
 place it appears and inserting ``subparagraph
        (A) or
        (B) of 
 paragraph

    (1) '';

    (4) in paragraph

    (4) --
        (A) in subparagraph
        (B) , by inserting ``or 
 applicable practitioner'' after ``physician''; and
        (B) in subparagraph
            (C) , by inserting ``or 
 applicable practitioner'' after ``physician''; and

    (5) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
 ``

    (5) In this subsection, the term `specified health services' 
means services otherwise covered under this part that are furnished on 
or after January 1, 2024, by a physician or an applicable practitioner 
to an individual--
 ``
        (A) for purposes of diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment 
 of a mental health disorder, as determined by the Secretary; or
 ``
        (B) with a substance use disorder diagnosis for purposes 
 of treatment of such disorder or co-occurring mental health 
 disorder, as determined by the Secretary.
 ``

    (6) In this subsection, the term `applicable practitioner' means 
the following:
 ``
        (A) A physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or 
 clinical nurse specialist (as defined in 

section 1861

    (aa)

    (5) ).
 ``
        (B) A clinical social worker (as defined in 

section 1861

    (hh)

    (1) ).
 ``
            (C) A clinical psychologist (as defined by the Secretary 
 for purposes of 

section 1861
            (ii) ).
 ``
            (D) A marriage and family therapist (as defined in 
 

section 1861
            (lll) (2) ).
 ``
        (E) A mental health counselor (as defined in 

section 1861
            (lll) (4) ).''.
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