Illinois has become the first state to sign APA’s model Collaborative Care legislation into law. On August 23, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed SB 2085, Psychiatric Collaborative Care, into law, which requires private insurers in Illinois and Illinois Medicaid to cover Collaborative Care CPT codes. SB 2085 was APA model legislation; congratulations to the Illinois Psychiatric Society for being the first to champion this legislation in the states!

Part of APA’s strategic plan to increase access to mental health and substance use service is to advance and train members in innovative models of care. Through a CMS grant, APA has trained over 4,700 clinicians, including psychiatrists and primary care clinicians, in the Collaborative Care Model. CMS made payment for this model available in 2017 for Medicare services, and while uptake in private insurance and Medicaid is slowly advancing, we want to make coverage of these services a requirement.

APA has drafted legislation that would increase access to mental healthcare by requiring private insurers to reimburse the Collaborative Care Model billing codes. Legislation has been drafted for all 50 states and the District of Columbia and is designed to be a positive legislative solution for addressing access to care while being budget-neutral for the state. Each state has legislation that is tailored specifically for that state’s terminology and formatting. APA’s model legislation only addresses private insurers in order to remain budget neutral; Medicaid legislative language can be added for states where this is politically feasible. I hope you and your District Branch or State Association will work with APA’s State Government Relations team to advance this in your state!

For more information on how your state can get involved in legislation addressing access to mental healthcare, please contact APA’s Director of State Government Relations, Erin Philp, at ephilp@psych.org. To learn more about the Collaborative Care Model or to receive training in how to work in the Collaborative Care model, please visit psychiatry.org/collaborate or contact Emma Jellen at ejellen@psych.org.

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