The Role of Psychology in Emerging Federal Health-care Plans

Professional psychology plays a prominent role at a number of key levels in the federal mental health-care system. This chapter examines the increasing impact professional psychology has had in recent years on two major and evolving federal mental health-care systems: the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the Medicare program. Within the VHA, professional psychology has helped to promote the expansion and transformation of evidencebased and recovery-oriented mental health care at the levels of policy, practice, and research. As the largest integrated health-care system in the nation, mental health-care transformation within the VHA and psychology's contributions to this major effort may help to inform other private and public mental health-care systems. Similarly, important changes within the Medicare program designed to promote mental health-care access, coverage, and quality portend that professional psychology will have an increasingly prominent role within Medicare. These developments provide unprecedented opportunities for psychologists to influence the future practice of psychology and the mental health-care landscape of the nation.