S. 1522Senate111th Congress (2009-2011)In Committee

Outpatient Mental Health Modernization Act of 2009

A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to stabilize and modernize the provision of partial hospitalization services under the Medicare program, and for other purposes.

Legislative Activity

Stay on top of the latest movement without scrolling through every action

1 earlier action

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Finance Committee

July 28, 2009

View full timeline

SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

July 28, 2009

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Finance Committee

July 28, 2009

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about S. 1522 on the floor

1 Democrat

Rep. Alcee L. HastingsD-FL-23 · Dec 17, 2009

Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Outpatient Mental Health Modernization Act of 2009, which will support a high quality and cost-savings approach to long-term care mental health services. Five…

Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Outpatient Mental Health Modernization Act of 2009, which will support a high quality and cost-savings approach to long-term care mental health services.

Five million Medicare beneficiaries have mental disorders other than mental retardation and 1.3 million of these individuals are under the age of 65. Medicare Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHPs) provide a structured and clinically intensive alternative to hospitalization for patients who otherwise might require sustained inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. PHP psychiatric patients typically receive four to six hours of treatment per day, five to six days a week in hospital-based settings and community mental health centers.

The severity the patient's illness often prevents the individual from obtaining or seeking transportation to the PHP facility, or from accessing high quality food. Additionally, some psychiatric medications that are prescribed to the patient cannot be safely administered without food. These patients often live in group-supervised settings due to difficulties in maintaining family relationships and their financial instability.

Currently, Medicare does not cover the costs of nutritional planning, meals or transportation for patients who receive psychiatric treatment in a PHP setting. Therefore, PHP facilities are responsible for the cost of providing food and transportation. This aggravates financial burdens that many PHPs and countless other community organizations are experiencing in these difficult economic times.

The Outpatient Mental Health Modernization Act of 2009 requires Medicare to reimburse PHPs for providing transportation and food and nutritional services. The bill also establishes a Behavioral Health Advisory Committee in which a diverse group of behavioral health stakeholders would examine and provide recommendations on how to address the

persisting challenges of access, stigma, quality and operability in the mental health delivery system. The Outpatient Mental Health Modernization Act of 2009 is a house companion to S. 1522, a bill that was introduced by Senator David Vitter (R-LA) on July 28, 2009.

Madam Speaker, PHPs are a cost effective alternative that can prevent mentally ill individuals from facing expensive inpatient care, incarceration, or institutionalization. The growing use and role of mental health PHPs in our health care system requires that we amend the law to assist PHPs in delivering the services, care and support to those who are living with severe and chronic mental illness. I urge my colleagues to support the bi-partisan Outpatient Mental Health Modernization Act of 2009, which help sustain an important treatment option in long-term care service network.

Bill Text

Latest available legislative text

Reading Mode

Raw Text PDF XML

Introduced in SenateIssued July 28, 2009

111th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 1522

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

July 28, 2009

Mr. Vitter 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 stabilize and modernize the provision of partial hospitalization services under the Medicare program, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Outpatient Mental Health Modernization Act of 2009.

Allowable partial hospitalization services

(a)

In general

Section 1861(ff)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(ff)(2)) is amended—

(1)

in subparagraph (H) by striking , and at the end;

(2)

by redesignating subparagraph (I) as subparagraph (J);

(3)

in subparagraph (J), as redesignated by paragraph (2), by striking (but in no event to include meals and transportation);

(4)

by inserting after subparagraph (H) the following new subparagraph:

(A)

nutritional planning, meals, and transportation, and

; and

(5)

by adding at the end the following new sentence: The guidelines established under the preceding sentence shall not allow for nutritional planning, meals, and transportation to be considered as meeting the minimum number of services requirement in order to receive payment for such items and services. .

(b)

Effective date

The amendments made by this section shall apply to services furnished on or after January 1, 2010.

Behavioral health advisory committee

(a)

Not later than January 1, 2011, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall convene a Behavioral Health Advisory Committee (in this section referred to as the Advisory Committee) composed of stakeholders in the behavioral health community.

(b)

Duties

The Advisory Committee shall address issues relating to—

(1)

discrimination against the chronically mentally ill, elderly, and United States veterans as it relates to receiving treatment for mental illness;

(2)

the establishment of conditions of participation for community mental health centers (as defined in paragraph (3)(B) of section 1861(ff) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(ff)) that provide partial hospitalization services (as defined in paragraph (1) of such section) under the Medicare program under title XVIII of such Act; and

(3)

other matters to be determined jointly by the Secretary and the Advisory Committee.

(c)

Implementation

Not later than January 1, 2012, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Advisory Committee, shall implement conditions of participation for community mental health centers (as so defined) that provide partial hospitalization services (as so defined) under the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act.