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2007 FMHCA Legislative Report |
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No real significant changes were made during the 2007 Legislative Session with regard to the practice of Mental Health Counseling. NASW did attempt to amend Chapter 491 with its non clinical social work title protection bill, but the bill died on the house messages calendar. The forensic mental health bill passed and amended the definition of qualified practitioner to one who practices in accordance with their practice act, replacing the old language that required the respective boards to develop a rule as to who was qualified. Representative Homan's mental health parity (mental health coverage) bill moved well in the House of Representatives, but never made it to the floor of the House and was stuck in committee in the Senate. FMHCA will continue to work with Representative Homan and others in the Senate to get this bill passed. Finally, we were able to remove some language from an adoption bill that would require an un-needed certification for mental health treatment of children in Florida's foster care and adoption system. |
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House Passes Historic Parity Legislation! |
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On March 5th the House of Representatives passed comprehensive legislation requiring private health insurance plans to use the same treatment limitations and financial requirements for mental health and addictive disorder coverage as is used for substantially all other covered services. H.R. 1424, the “Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007,” introduced by Representatives Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN), was passed with strong bipartisan support by a vote of 268-148. (House members’ votes are listed online at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll101.xml.) The legislation is named for the late Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, a tireless advocate for Americans with mental illness. |
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Recently the 491 Board approved language to allow cross supervision of interns under chapter 491 for qualified supervisors who are licensed under Chapter 491, regardless of professional orientation. In order to supervise an intern from another discipline, LMHCs, LMFTs and LCSWs must take additional coursework (outlined in the rules) and submit proof of having completed the coursework to the 491 Board Staff. The schools of Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling have indicated to the 491 Board that they would not prevent professional from other professions within Chapter 491 from having access to the required courses. Should you apply to take the additional coursework and be denied access, please contact FMHCA Legislative Affairs Office. For more information regarding the criteria for cross supervisions please see the links below. Rule 64B4-11-007 - PDF Rule 64B4-21-007 - PDF Rule 64B4-31-007 - PDF |
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