I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2035 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to improve access to mental 
health services under the Medicare program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 18, 2021 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 
Mr. MEEKS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, 
Ms. SCANLON, Mr. TONKO, Mr. KILMER, Mr. TRONE, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. 
DEFAZIO, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. NORTON, and 
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 
the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to improve 
access to mental health services under the Medicare program. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Access to 
Mental Health Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. IMPROVED ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 
UNDER THE MEDICARE PROGRAM. 
(a) ACCESS TO CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKERS.—Sec-
tion 1833(a)(1)(F)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395l(a)(1)(F)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘75 
percent of the amount determined for payment of a psy-
chologist under clause (L)’’ and inserting ‘‘85 percent of 
the fee schedule amount provided under section 1848’’. 
(b) ACCESS TO CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER SERVICES 
PROVIDED TO RESIDENTS OF SKILLED NURSING FACILI-
TIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1888(e)(2)(A)(ii) of 
the 
Social 
Security 
Act 
(42 
U.S.C. 
1395yy(e)(2)(A)(ii)) is amended by inserting ‘‘clin-
ical social worker services,’’ after ‘‘qualified psychol-
ogist services,’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
1861(hh)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395x(hh)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘and other 
than services furnished to an inpatient of a skilled 
nursing facility which the facility is required to pro-
vide as a requirement for participation’’. 
(c) ACCESS TO THE COMPLETE SET OF CLINICAL SO-
CIAL WORKER SERVICES.—Section 1861(hh)(2) of the So-
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(hh)(2)) is further 
amended by striking ‘‘for the diagnosis and treatment of 
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mental illnesses (other than services’’ and inserting ‘‘(in-
cluding services for the diagnosis and treatment of mental 
illnesses or services for health and behavior assessment 
and intervention (identified as of January 1, 2021, by 
HCPCS codes 96150 through 96161 (and any succeeding 
codes)), but not including services’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to items and services furnished on 
or after January 1, 2022. 
Æ 
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