II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3157 

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 

OCTOBER 26, 2023 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘More Behavioral 

5 Health Providers Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANDING ELIGIBILITY FOR INCENTIVES UNDER 

2 THE MEDICARE HEALTH PROFESSIONAL 

3 SHORTAGE AREA BONUS PROGRAM TO PRAC4 TITIONERS FURNISHING MENTAL HEALTH 

5 AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER SERVICES. 

6 Section 1833(m) of the Social Security Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 1395l(m)) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

9 following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(1) In the case of— 

11 ‘‘(A) physicians’ services (other than specified 

12 health services that are eligible for the additional 

13 payment under subparagraph (B)) furnished in a 

14 year to an individual, who is covered under the in15 surance program established by this part and who 

16 incurs expenses for such services, in an area that is 

17 designated (under section 332(a)(1)(A) of the Public 

18 Health Service Act) as a health professional short19 age area as identified by the Secretary prior to the 

20 beginning of such year, in addition to the amount 

21 otherwise paid under this part, there also shall be 

22 paid to the physician (or to an employer or facility 

23 in the cases described in clause (A) of section 

24 1842(b)(6)) (on a monthly or quarterly basis) from 

25 the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust 


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1 Fund an amount equal to 10 percent of the payment 

2 amount for the service under this part; and 

3 ‘‘(B) specified health services (as defined in 

4 paragraph (5)) furnished in a year to an individual, 

5 who is covered under the insurance program estab6 lished by this part and who incurs expenses for such 

7 services, in an area that is designated (under such 

8 section 332(a)(1)(A)) as a mental health profes9 sional shortage area as identified by the Secretary 

10 prior to the beginning of such year, in addition to 

11 the amount otherwise paid under this part, there 

12 also shall be paid to the physician or applicable 

13 practitioner (as defined in paragraph (6)) (or to an 

14 employer or facility in the cases described in clause 

15 (A) of section 1842(b)(6)) (on a monthly or quar16 terly basis) from such Trust Fund an amount equal 

17 to 15 percent of the payment amount for the service 

18 under this part.’’; 

19 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘in paragraph (1)’’ and in21 serting ‘‘in subparagraph (A) or (B) of para22 graph (1)’’; 

23 (B) by inserting ‘‘or, in the case of speci24 fied health services, the physician or applicable 

25 practitioner’’ after ‘‘physician’’; 


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1 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘paragraph 

2 (1)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘subpara3 graph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1)’’; 

4 (4) in paragraph (4)— 

5 (A) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘or 

6 applicable practitioner’’ after ‘‘physician’’; and 

7 (B) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘or 

8 applicable practitioner’’ after ‘‘physician’’; and 

9 (5) by adding at the end the following new 

10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(5) In this subsection, the term ‘specified health 

12 services’ means services otherwise covered under this part 

13 that are furnished on or after January 1, 2024, by a phy14 sician or an applicable practitioner to an individual— 

15 ‘‘(A) for purposes of diagnosis, evaluation, or 

16 treatment of a mental health disorder, as determined 

17 by the Secretary; or 

18 ‘‘(B) with a substance use disorder diagnosis 

19 for purposes of treatment of such disorder or co-oc20 curring mental health disorder, as determined by the 

21 Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(6) In this subsection, the term ‘applicable practi23 tioner’ means the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) A physician assistant, nurse practitioner, 

2 or clinical nurse specialist (as defined in section 

3 1861(aa)(5)). 

4 ‘‘(B) A clinical social worker (as defined in sec5 tion 1861(hh)(1)). 

6 ‘‘(C) A clinical psychologist (as defined by the 

7 Secretary for purposes of section 1861(ii)). 

8 ‘‘(D) A marriage and family therapist (as de9 fined in section 1861(lll)(2)). 

10 ‘‘(E) A mental health counselor (as defined in 

11 section 1861(lll)(4)).’’. 

Æ 


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