Take Action for MFTs in Medicare

Join AAMFT and its allies in the Medicare Mental Health Workforce Coalition in the fight towards Medicare recognition! We are urging all AAMFT members and marriage and family therapists to advocate for MFTs as Medicare providers. This virtual campaign is designed to bolster Congressional support for the Mental Health Access Improvement Act (S. 828 /H.R. 432) by engaging with Members of Congress on various social media platforms, in addition to direct outreach to their offices.

We need YOUR help to make this Medicare Mental Health virtual campaign a success! This page will house resources for anyone that would like to participate, including sample social media posts, "elevator" pitches, and more!

How to Participate

In your communications, use these guidelines and resources to help compose messages. Please feel free to use your own personal experiences to enhance your messages. Personal stories resonate better than solely copied and pasted information!

Contact AAMFT at FamilyTEAM@aamft.org if you have any questions.

Contact your Members of Congress directly

  • Call their office: Calling is a very effective way to ask them to sign-on to S. 828/H.R. 432. Feel free to use our phone call script when calling. Use this link to find your representatives and click on their profiles to find their D.C. office contact information. Once you've reached their office, you can schedule a time to meet with a staffer at their DC or district office or leave a message urging your Member of Congress to cosponsor the Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2021.
  • Email: Send a personalized email that includes a story or remarks about how your practice, or your clients' well-being, is impacted by the lack of coverage for MFTs. Use our sample email as a starting point. 
  • Examples of personal stories for phone calls and emails
  • Please utilize the above strategies first if you have an extra 10 or 15 minutes (at most!), since they tend to be more effective at calling attention to advocacy issues. However, if you only have a minute or two, AAMFT provides an easy, pre-written email that can be sent straight from our Take Action platform.

Social Media

  • Tag your Members of Congress and ask them to sign-on to the Mental Health Access Improvement Act (S. 828/H.R. 432)
  • Use the hashtag #UpdateMedicare in your posts (click to see what many other people have tweeted!)
  • Compose your own message or use our Sample Social Media Post
  • Make your post visual - sample graphics are provided below

Share with family and friends

  • Allies of the profession are welcome to participate in taking action to improve Medicare: the more participants, the more attention we can bring to this issue. If your friends and family members want to contact their representative, please share this link for them to email their Members of Congress. 

Write an Op-Ed

  • Visibility in major daily newspapers is an important outlet to advocate for MFTs and MHCs in Medicare. Find resources and sample templates here.


Sample Graphics 

   

   

  



    Find Your Legislators

    Type your home address (voting address) to find contact information, a short biography, and links to social media platforms and website of any of your Federal elected officials.

    FIND YOUR LEGISLATORS

    65+ Opinion Study: Research Report

    AAMFT recently commissioned a study of Americans over the age of 65 to measure their attitudes towards mental health services, access to care, and proposed public policy to include MFTs as approved Medicare providers.

    Findings of this study revealed that seniors strongly support inclusion of LMFTs and LMHCs as covered Medicare providers.

    READ THE REPORT  

     

    READ THE ONE-PAGER

    Fast Facts About Medicare

    •  S.828/H.R. 432 would add approximately 225,000 mental health providers to the Medicare network.
    • The legislation would increase access in rural and underserved areas - approximately 77 million people live in professional shortage areas.
    • Medicare has not been updated since 1989, creating a coverage gap for older Americans and people with long-term disabilities.
    • The Medicare population has nearly doubled in that timeframe, from 30 million to over 60 million and growing. 
    • Nearly 25% of older Americans suffer from a mental illness or substance use condition. This is a health care problem and increases poor outcomes for mortality for common conditions like heart disease, cancer, hip fractures, and diabetes. 
    • Older adults have the highest rates of suicide and and an increasing prevalence of substance use. 
    LEARN MORE

    Join the Family TEAM

    The Family TEAM is an active network of advocates willing to volunteer a bit of time and/or energy towards furthering MFT policy interest through targeted grassroots outreach.

    Sign up for the Family TEAM to stay informed and get updates on MFTs in Medicare and other advocacy objectives.

    SIGN UP