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6/11/2024
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Senate approves DiMario bill to reimburse mental health interns
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 STATE HOUSE — The Senate today approved legislation sponsored by Sen. Alana M. DiMario to allow mental health interns to bill Medicaid for their services.
The bill now heads to the House, where Rep. Joseph J. Solomon Jr. (D-Dist. 22, Warwick) has introduced companion legislation (2024-H 7494).
“At a time when Rhode Island faces a shortage of mental health providers, facilities are actually turning away interns because they can’t bill for their services,” said Senator DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham), who is licensed mental health counselor in private practice. “Most providers take their first job with the site where they interned, so we’re not only losing interns to neighboring states like Massachusetts and Connecticut, we’re losing mental health providers as well. Allowing mental health interns to bill Medicaid, just like medical interns do, will help us retain these much-needed professionals.”
The legislation (2024-S 2713) would have the state’s Medicaid program reimburse health care providers for services provided by interns and residents in mental health professions. That would ensure the intern or resident would be paid for their labor and the mental health provider would be paid for providing supervision.
Under the current system, students seeking their license in mental health counseling, social work, and marriage and family therapy must complete on-the-job clinical placements under the supervision of licensed clinicians. Such individuals see patients, just as medical interns and residents see patients under a physician’s supervision.
But while medical interns and residents are paid for their work, mental health interns and residents are not. And while hospitals can bill for the treatment their interns and residents provide, mental health clinicians cannot. That, mental health providers say, discourages people from low- or middle-income backgrounds from entering the field and creates a disincentive for busy clinicians to train the next generation of mental health professionals.
“Training the next generation of health care providers is of critical importance to ensuring all Rhode Islanders get the care they need. Senator DiMario’s bill provides critically needed financial support through Medicaid billing for training behavioral health clinicians,” said Matthew Roman, chief operating officer of Thundermist Health Center. “This legislation is not a minute too soon given the post-pandemic spike in behavioral health conditions and the acute need for more clinicians to treat patients.”
Several states have similar legislation, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ohio, Minnesota and Texas.
“Mental health concerns continue to be a pressing need for so many in our state — especially our teens and young adults,” said Margaret Holland McDuff, CEO of Family Service of Rhode Island. “This bill is a critical step in building back Rhode Island’s clinical workforce as well as addressing equity. This measure will create a talent pipeline to advance wellness across every community, not just those who can pay the most for it.”
Said Senator DiMario, “We talk about improving educational outcomes and strengthening our economy. All of that depends on the mental health of our students, business owners and workers. This bill will help a more diverse pool of applicants enter the field and help us attract and retain quality mental health professionals so they can help all Rhode Islanders lead healthy, productive lives.”
For more information, contact:
Tristan Grau, Publicist
State House Room B20
Providence, RI 02903
401.222.4935
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