Tucked into a bill (S 3101) to prevent a reduction in Medicare physician fees by 10.6 percent was a provision to reduce the insurance copay for psychiatric services. It is currently set at 50 percent, a rate that was set in the 1960s, and the proposal was to reduce this to 20 percent, equal to other health costs. The American Psychiatric Association has been advocating an equal fee for seniors, and also to retain reimbursements making it possible for doctors to treat Medicare recipients. The provisions were included in a bill Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) introduced earlier this month. Democrats fell short of the votes necessary to move it through the Senate.
A separate bill (S. 1715) by Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME), the "Medicare Mental Health Copayment Equity Act of 2007" was introduced in 2007 to deal with this explicitly. To follow S. 1715, click here.
