ADAPT Act
The Accelerating the Development of Advanced Psychology Trainees Act (ADAPT Act) would expand access to psychological and behavioral health services for Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP beneficiaries by allowing—and facilitating—the reimbursement of services provided by advanced psychology trainees (APT) under the supervision of licensed clinical psychologists. For Medicare, services provided by an APT under general supervision would be eligible for reimbursement, billed by the supervising psychologist, with a new “GC” modifier code created to identify these trainee-delivered services. For Medicaid and CHIP, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to issue guidance to states within one year on how to cover, bill for, and expand coverage of these trainee-provided services (including potential waivers, codes, and best practices). The changes would apply to services furnished at least one year after enactment and aim to expand the mental health workforce pipeline while increasing beneficiary access to care.
Key Points
- 1Expands Medicare coverage to include psychological services furnished by advanced psychology trainees (APT) under general supervision, with the supervising clinical psychologist billed as the provider; introduces a new GC modifier to identify these trainee-delivered services.
- 2Defines advanced psychology trainee as either (a) a doctoral intern in APA-accredited supervised training for at least one year before earning a doctoral degree, or (b) a postdoctoral resident with a psychology doctorate seeking licensure, undergoing 1–2 years of supervised training to meet licensure hours, through APA or APPIC-accredited programs.
- 3General supervision means the supervising psychologist oversees the service in overall direction and control, but the supervising psychologist need not be physically present when the service is provided.
- 4Effective date: services furnished on or after a date that is one year after enactment; the GC modifier code must be developed within one year after enactment.
- 5Medicaid and CHIP: within one year, HHS must issue guidance to states on covering services by APTs, including recommended billing codes/modifiers, activation mechanisms, and examples of waivers used to enable coverage.