JULY 2023 E-NEWSLETTER

Dear Members,

Summer is here and we’re working on some pretty cool things during these warmer months. As you may remember, we celebrated a big advocacy win when Congress passed the Mental Health Access Improvement Act in December, allowing marriage and family therapy services as Medicare providers starting January 1, 2024.

We’re ramping up efforts to clarify how the Medicare process works, and to prepare you for working with the Medicare community. We’re in conversation with regulatory agencies and stakeholders to ensure that the implementation of the law is both practical and beneficial for all. And we’ve teamed up with the Medicare Workforce Coalition to offer three educational webinars to help cut through the noise. If you’re interested in learning about how the Medicare process works, or want to learn how to navigate the Medicare provider enrollment process and physician fee schedule, I highly suggest you take a look. We’ll continue to update information as it becomes available, so be sure to bookmark this page, and stay tuned for our virtual Medicare Corner (coming soon!).

Next up on our agenda is advocating for the National Licensing Exam and researching license portability measures to increase flexibility for MFTs who wish to practice in other states. Ninety-seven percent of CAMFT’s license portability survey respondents shared an interest in having their MFT license be more portable. The Board supported the forward movement to explore and advocate for license portability for California MFTs into other states. CAMFT will be working with AAMFT to help ensure the California MFT is part of this ongoing discussion and movement. 

CAMFT’s license portability survey also revealed that eighty-nine percent of survey respondents support California adopting the national exam. With this and other insights, the Board of Directors approved discussions with the Board of Behavioral Sciences to move towards a National Exam. Currently, California is the only state that has its own exam as the 49 other states use the National Exam. Our efforts will allow for greater movement towards license portability, as well as flexibly when advocating for federal positions. Click here to  learn more about license portability and the national exam by watching our webinar on Licensure Portability Considerations.

We also have several DEI efforts ongoing, including supporting the ACA 5 (Low), which would amend California’s Constitution to safeguard the right to same-sex and interracial marriage. CAMFT is also co-sponsoring the Respect for Names Act, SB 372, to protect the privacy and ensure the safety of transgender and nonbinary individuals by eliminating the use of deadnames at the Department of Consumer Affairs for licensed professionals who have changed their legal names.

We are working full steam ahead to enhance the MFT profession and the working lives of our members.

Hope you are staying cool during the warmer months.

With care,

Joy Alafia, MBA, CAE
Executive Director