On Friday (2/12/2010), three ACA staff headed into still snowmageddoned Washington DC for the release of the long-awaited Institute of Medicine (IOM) TRICARE study. With reports of three hour commutes into DC on the first day of post-snowpocalypse work, we had every reason to back out of attending the meeting. But this report was just too critical for the cadre of professional counselors who want to provide services to those who serve our country and their families not to make the journey.

The study was commissioned by Congress to provide guidance on whether or not to remove the physician referral and supervision requirement for counselors’ services within TRICARE, the health care program serving members of the armed forces and their dependents.

We attended Friday’s briefing with some trepidation. This was ACA’s third visit to the IOM panel. At the first meeting, I testified on behalf of ACA along with Dr. Carol Bobby from CACREP and Dr. Tom Clawson from NBCC. We came away from our testimony somewhat discouraged and feeling that many on the panel – especially the psychiatrists – didn’t get it. The second meeting was better. The panel had done their homework (and maybe heard us more than we thought) and seemed to have a better grasp of professional counseling and our qualifications. So we approached the release of the final report with cautious optimism but not really knowing what to expect.

We were therefore pleased when David Butler, the administrator of the report, announced that the study unequivocally recommends independent practice authority for professional counselors.

ACA commends the Congressional commissioned panel for endorsing TRICARE counselor independent practice, but we also note that the report contains some challenges. The report recommends that only those counselors graduating from a CACREP-accredited, 60-credit program and having passed the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) be recognized for independent practice. ACA recognizes the hardship this would cause for many qualified counselors, and will be working with Congress to address these barriers in the course of removing the physician referral and supervision requirement from current statute.

ACA would like to thank the two representatives from professional counseling, Dr. Vilia Tarvydas and Dr. Ted Remley, for their work on the panel. Vilia and Ted clearly made a difference in helping panel members understand that the scope of practice, credentials and standards of professional counseling meets or exceeds those of our sister helping professions. In addition, I would like to personally thank Scott Barstow, ACA Director of Public Policy and Legislation, for his extensive and effective efforts on behalf of the association and our members.

The full TRICARE study is available on the IOM website at http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/Provision-of-Mental-Health-Counseling-Services-Under-TRICARE.aspx. ACA public policy staff will be analyzing the report in greater detail in the coming days at http://www.counseling.org/publicpolicy.

For more information, contact Scott Barstow at ACA’s public policy office: 800-347-6647 x234, email: sbarstow@counseling.org.

Guest blogger, David Kaplan, is the Chief Professional Officer of ACA.