Whats Age Got to Do With It? Shortages of Medicare Mental Health Providers

Presenter: Franca S. Posner MSW, LCSW-C

CEUs: Category 1 | 3.0 

This workshop is designed to identify the current and worsening crisis in lack of access to mental health care for current and future Medicare recipients. The underlying causes of this barrier to mental health care for older Americans and those with certain disabilities will be explored. The benefits and challenges of becoming a Medicare provider will be explored in a candid and straightforward manner. An opportunity for concrete questions and answers will be provided by a panel of clinicians at the end of this continuing education workshop.

Workshop Objectives:

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Identify exactly who is qualified to be a Medicare recipient, and what services are provided through traditional Medicare as well as Medicare advantage programs.
2. Describe the current mental health crisis related to a lack of practitioners to meet the needs of the aging and disabled community.
3. Articulate the impact of the demographic shift in the United States as members of the “Baby Boom“ generation continue to become Medicare recipients in the next 10 years.
4. Identify personal and professional implicit and explicit biases related to working with older adults and the disabled.
5. Describe of the pros and cons of being a Medicare provider, including the clinical opportunities, The practice growth opportunities, and a realistic understanding of what mental health services Medicare covers.

Specific Agenda:

Welcome, Network

Introduction to topic, history, demographics, practice gaps.

Break, Re-caffeinate, Network

The pros and cons of being a Medicare provider, Opting in and opting out of Medicare, reimbursement rates, the importance of secondary insurance, and the mechanics of billing Medicare.

Panel discussion: Medicare provider members of GWSCSW. An opportunity to ask questions and get answers about the nitty-gritty of being a Medicare provider