The New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department has learned of an attempted fraud scheme aimed at licensees. In the scheme, scam artists identify themselves as New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department staff or investigators and notify the licensee that they are under investigation, that their license may be suspended, or that an arrest warrant has been issued in the licensee’s name, and then they will demand money.

In some instances, scam artists identify themselves as other entities including local police, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The callers may be “spoofing” telephone numbers to make the calls appear to be coming from the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department.

The best deterrence against these bad actors is awareness and caution. All licensees should be aware of unsolicited calls and emails from scammers impersonating a government agency. This is a trick fraudsters use to make a quick buck at the expense of hardworking consumers.

The New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department will never contact licensees demanding money or payment of any form of personal information without conducting an official investigation or inquiry. If you receive such a call, please refuse the demand for payment and hang up.

With any suspicious phone call, the Department advises that safe practice is to hang up before revealing any personal information and for the individual to initiate a return phone call by calling a number researched on their own rather than relying on the caller ID to ensure that they are speaking with the actual agency.

Please also consider the following:

• NEVER disclose any personal information, i.e., social security numbers, date of birth, or credit/debit card numbers.
• If you receive a call, contact the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department at (505) 476-4500 to inquire if an official investigation is being conducted.
• If the caller is stating they are from the DEA, report the scam using the DEA’s Extortion Scam online reporting form: .https://wwwdea.gov/stories/2019/06/11/alert-extortion-scam-targeting-dea-registrants
• If the caller is stating they are from the FBI, report the scam using the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reporting form: https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
• If the phone number of the caller appears to be a New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department telephone number, report the scam using the Federal Communications Commission’s consumer complaint form: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/articles/115002234203-Unwanted-Calls-Phone-

The New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department regulates more than 500,000 individuals and businesses in 35 industries, professions, and trades across the state. Its goal is to ensure that New Mexicans receive quality services from qualified individuals and businesses while ensuring a fair and prompt administrative process.

Dec 23, 2022

For over a decade, the American Counseling Association and its partner organizations have advocated for the successful passage of the Mental Health Access Improvement Act (S. 828/H.R. 432). Although this bill has previously passed the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, it has never passed both at the same time. Today we can say that this monumental legislation has passed in both chambers and is on its way to President Biden to be signed into law.

The Mental Health Access Improvement Act will close the gap in federal law that prevents licensed professional counselors from being recognized as Medicare providers. The legislation is expected to give Medicare beneficiaries immediate access to more than 225,000 additional licensed mental health professionals and to help close the widening treatment gap.

We could not have done this on our own! First, we would like to thank our bill sponsors — Reps. Mike Thompson (D-CA-5) and John Katko (R-NY-24) and Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) — for their leadership and support. We recognize that the passage of the Mental Health Access Improvement Act is the result of many compromises and steadfast hard work by our sponsors and their staff members. As such, we urge them to remain diligent in their efforts to further support this legislation on its journey to the White House and, ultimately, into law.

We would also like to thank our advocacy partners, especially the Medicare Mental Health Workforce Coalition, whose mission has been to strengthen Medicare beneficiaries’ access to mental and behavioral health care and to help build the provider workforce by forming relationships with congressional offices and galvanizing constituents.

To our ACA member advocates, it was your tireless advocacy work through the years — from marching up to Capitol Hill to sending messages to congressional leaders through our Take Action web page — that helped to push this bill over the finish line. This is truly a result of your labor and unwavering support.

Although we have achieved a hard-fought victory, we still have more work to do. The intent of the Mental Health Access Improvement Act is to increase access to mental health services for the Medicare population, and at ACA, we will make sure it does as it was intended by working hand in hand with the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services and with congressional leaders to create a more accessible pathway to behavioral health services for those in need.

https://www.counseling.org/news/updates/news-detail/2022/12/23/we-did-it!-medicare-reimbursement-now-law