PSYCHOLOGIST SERVICES IN CLINICS.

SEC. 4077. PSYCHOLOGIST SERVICES IN CLINICS. (a) Coverage of Psychologists’ Services Furnished at Rural Health Clinics.— (1) Section 1861(aa)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(aa)(1)(B)) is amended by striking “physician assistant or by a nurse practitioner” and inserting “physician assistant or a nurse practitioner (as defined in paragraph (3)), or by a clinical psychologist (as defined by the Secretary),”. (2) The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall be effective with respect to services furnished on or after the date of enactment of this Act. (b) Direct Payment for Psychologists’ Services Furnished at a Community Mental Health Center.— (1) Section 1861(s)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(s)(2)), as amended, is amended— (A) by striking “and” at the end of subparagraph (K); (B) by adding “and” at the end of subparagraph (L); and (C) by adding at the end thereof the following new subparagraph: “(M) qualified psychologist services;”. (2) Section 1832(a)(2)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395k(a)(2)(B)) is amended— (A) by striking “and” at the end of clause (ii); (B) by striking the semicolon in clause (iii) and inserting a comma; and (C) by adding at the end thereof the following new clause: “(iv) qualified psychologist services; and”. (3) Section 1833(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395k(a)(1) is amended— (A) by striking “and” at the end of subparagraph (G); 101 STAT. 1330–121 (B) by striking “services; and” in subparagraph (H) and inserting “services,”; (C) by adding “and” at the end of subparagraph (I); and (D) by adding at the end thereof the following new subparagraph: “(J) with respect to qualified psychologist services under section 1861(s)(2)(M), the amounts paid shall be the amount determined by a fee schedule established by the Secretary for the purposes of this subparagraph;”. (4) The subsection added by section 4073(b)(3) of this subpart is amended by inserting “and in the case of qualified psychologists services for which payment may be made under this part only pursuant to section 1861(s)(2)(M)” after “1861(s)(2)(L)”. (5) Section 1861 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection: “Qualified Psychologist Services “(gg) The term ‘qualified psychologist services“ means such services and such services and supplies furnished as an incident to his service furnished by a clinical psychologist (as defined by the Secretary) at a community mental health center (as such term is used in the Public Health Service Act) which the psychologist is legally authorized to perform under State law (or the State regulatory mechanism provided by State law) as would otherwise be covered if furnished by a physician or as an incident to a physician’s service.”.4040Copy read “service.”. (6) 4141Copy read “(5)”. The amendments made by this subsection shall be effective with respect to services performed on or after July 1, 1988.