The MMHWC and NCMW Host Medicare 501 Webinar

The Medicare Mental Health Workforce Coalition (MMHWC) and the National Council for Mental Wellbeing (NCMW) recently held the Medicare 501 webinar, “New Engagement Opportunities for Community Behavioral Health Centers With Counselors and MFTs Under Medicare” on Oct. 5, 2023. The webinar was proudly hosted by NBCC.

This webinar outlined the primary roles that community behavioral health centers play in providing mental health and substance use services to improve quality of life for older adults with mental health conditions. Furthermore, our three speakers highlighted the skills and experiences of MFTs and counselors and how they can address the needs of county behavioral health directors in serving Medicare beneficiaries with mental health conditions.

Jolie Long, MS, EdS, NCC, MAC, LCMHC, Legislative Research Manager in the Government and Legislative Affairs Department for NBCC, introduced our three speakers.

Stephanie Katz is the Assistant Vice President for Policy and Advocacy at NCMW, where she specializes in access to mental health and substance use disorder services, federal programs, and political strategy. Katz focused her presentation on the roles of NCMW and the services and impacts provided by Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) and Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs).

Jill Duba Sauerheber is a professor and department head in the Department of Counseling and Student Affairs at Western Kentucky University. She is the Program Coordinator for the Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling Program and College and Career Readiness Program. Sauerheber centered her presentation around the benefits of MFTs and counselors to mental health treatment.

Erin Schaefer is the Executive Vice President and Executive Director at Catalyst Life Services and has worked in community mental health for over 20 years. She has served on the boards of the Ohio Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). Schaefer’s presentation delved into the roles and statistics of MFTs and how they help Medicare recipients. 

Webinar participants should now be able to better identify the roles that community behavioral health centers play, in addition to the services that Medicare beneficiaries receive through community behavioral health systems and how providers currently receive reimbursement. 

Attendees can also highlight the skills, expertise, and experiences of MFTs and counselors, as well as better identify roles that MFTs and counselors can play in addressing the needs of older adults served by community behavioral health centers. 

For those that missed Webinar 501, or any of our previous webinars, they were recorded and can be viewed at https://www.nbcc.org/govtaffairs/medicarevideos. More Medicare-related trainings will also be available soon. 
 
Medicare Mental Health Workforce Coalition Members
 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, American Counseling Association, American Mental Health Counselors Association, Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness, California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, Centerstone, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, National Association for Rural Mental Health, National Association of Community Health Centers, National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors, National Board for Certified Counselors, National Council for Mental Wellbeing, National Council on Aging, Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies, and The Jewish Federations of North America