Mental health care may soon get easier to access for those on Medicare.

For Marketplace, I'm Novasafo in for David Brancaccio. Merry Christmas.

In the New Year, seniors and others covered under Medicare will have more options for mental health coverage.

Congress has approved an expansion in eligible providers under the program.

They will almost double come

January 1st adding licensed mental health counselors and marriage and family

therapists to the mix. Marketplace's Savannah Marr has the details.

When people age into Medicare coverage Marketplace as Savannah Mar has the details.

When people age into Medicare coverage or become eligible because of a disability,

that sometimes means leaving a trusted counselor behind.

It's happened a few times to Aaron Schaefer's clients. She practices

marriage and family therapy in Ohio. That's been devastating for people who have

made a connection, perhaps stabilized in their symptoms and then have to have that kind of

disruption to their services.

And finding another provider who can accept Medicare can be tough, says Beth McGinty, a health

economist at Cornell.

You are really limited in Medicare to psychiatrists and psychologists. There are shortages in many areas of the country for these groups.

This change on January 1st will make some 400,000 providers or 40% of the mental health workforce eligible to

build a program. It will you know approximately double the amount of mental health

providers who your Medicare covers.

And could fill a critical gap in rural parts of the country,

where one in three adults is enrolled in Medicare,

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