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Committee hears push to let certified art therapists bill Medicaid and create provisional license
Summary
Supporters told the committee that authorizing Medicaid reimbursement for licensed certified art therapists (LCATs) and adding a provisional LCAT license would increase access to art‑based mental health care, reduce redundant credentialing, and benefit rural and underserved populations.
Supporters of two related bills, House Bill 3761 and House Bill 3760, told the House Committee on Behavioral Health and Health Care that Oregon should authorize Medicaid reimbursement for licensed certified art therapists and establish a provisional license to streamline licensure and expand access.
Representative Rosa Tran, sponsor for HB 3761, said art therapy combines creativity with therapeutic practice and that many licensed certified art therapists (LCATs) currently cannot bill Medicaid, limiting services for low‑income Oregonians. “Passing House Bill 37 61 will promote accessibility,” Tran said, describing the bills as a way to reduce redundancy and administrative barriers.
Why it matters: advocates said art therapy reaches people who struggle to communicate in words — children with trauma, refugees, veterans with PTSD and older adults with dementia — and that Medicaid reimbursement would let art therapists provide care to people who cannot otherwise access services.
Testimony and evidence
Dr. Mary Andress, a board‑certified art therapist and educator, told the committee HB 37 61 would reduce duplication that forces art therapists to hold multiple licenses and would help Medicaid recipients, including as many as 1.4 million Oregonians enrolled in Medicaid who currently have limited access to art therapy. She described where art therapists already work in Oregon — Kaiser, Providence, the VA, OHSU, state hospital, schools and corrections — and urged passage.
Lubov Gonina, Sally Giles, Bailey Bullock and others described clinical use cases from refugee and recovery populations, and said provisional licensing (HB 3760) modeled on registered associate statuses for other mental health professions would help agencies hire supervised, pre‑licensed art therapists while they complete required supervised clinical hours.
Implementation details and board involvement
Galen Walker, an art therapist who testified, said House Bill 3761 combines two objectives: (1) adding LCATs to the Oregon Health Authority provider list so they can bill Medicaid, and (2) establishing a provisional art‑therapy license that aligns art therapy with other mental health licensure pathways. He told the committee the provisional license would require two years of supervised clinical practice prior to applying for full licensure, aligned with national credentialing (including 1,000 supervised hours under the Art Therapy Credentials Board process).
Committee questions and clarifications
Members asked whether art therapists can already bill under other licenses; witnesses said many currently must maintain dual licenses and that some employers and settings use secondary licenses to bill. The committee also asked whether the Health Evidence Review Commission (HERC) had evaluated art therapy; witnesses said earlier bills had set up the current licensure framework and that HB 3761 would align reimbursement rules.
Ending: The committee closed public hearings on the art‑therapy bills after multiple testimony rounds. Advocates urged committee passage, saying Medicaid reimbursement and a provisional license would expand affordable, culturally responsive mental‑health services in under‑served and rural communities.
