Kick off the Convention! aPA Advocacy Series
Workshop Description
Getting Paid What We're Worth: Reimbursement, the Aetna/Alma Cuts, and the Parity Path Forward for Alabama Psychologists
On July 15, 2026, Aetna rate changes took effect for thousands of clinicians billing through Alma — eliminating the extended-session premium and paying doctoral-level providers at master's-level rates. This one-hour presentation uses that case study to examine how psychologist reimbursement actually works: how Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial rates are set, where Alabama stands nationally, and why changes affecting one platform's clinicians signal risk for every psychologist in the state. Attendees will leave with a working understanding of mental health parity law — including what it does and doesn't require — and a practical three-step process for identifying, screening, and filing parity complaints, plus five concrete advocacy actions they can begin this month. 1 CE credit; free of charge.
Learning Objectives
- Describe how Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial payers set psychologist reimbursement rates--and where Alabama falls relative to national and Southeaster benchmarks
- Analyze the 2026 Aetna/Alma rate changes and their implications for credential-based rate differentials for Alabama psychologists
- Identify at least 3 concrete advocacy actions Alabama psychologists can take under mental health parity law to influence reimbursement policy
Workshop Description
The program will provide an overview of the process and issues involved, and the status of the proposed revisions of the American Psychological Association's and the Association of State Provincial Psychology Board's respective Model License Acts. The program will include discussion of the implications of the proposed revisions to support members of the Alabama Psychological Association and the Alabama Board of Examiners in Psychology to engage in consideration of what if any modifications to their licensing law would be in the interest of the citizens of Alabama and professional psychologists in Alabama. The program will also prompt attendees to become more familiar with their licensing statute and relevant issues in professional regulation of psychologists.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will be able to describe the purpose of a model license act
- Participants will be able to name two organizations which are revising their model license acts and state the constituencies they represent.
- Participants will be able to list two proposed major changes in the American Psychological Association’s draft revision of their model license act.
- Participants will be able to describe potential implications of the proposed changes.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that APA CE rules require that we only give credit to those who attend the entire workshop. Those arriving more than 15 minutes after the scheduled start time or leaving before the workshop is completed will not receive CE credits and will not be eligible for the 15% premium discount described below.
