The TREAT Act makes it easier for mental health professionals to provide therapy and counseling through video calls or other telehealth methods across state lines during national emergencies. Normally, therapists and counselors need a license in each state where they want to practice, which can be complicated and time-consuming. This bill temporarily removes that requirement—if you're licensed to practice mental health services in any U.S. state or territory, you can now provide those services to patients in any other state during an emergency without getting additional licenses. This means people in areas hit hard by a crisis might have faster access to mental health support, since there are fewer barriers for professionals to help. The bill does include some safeguards: professionals still have to follow the rules about what they're qualified to do, and state medical boards can still investigate and discipline professionals who break the rules or provide services they're not trained for. Once the national emergency ends, this temporary flexibility goes away and the normal licensing requirements return.

TREAT Act

Latta, Robert E.

Temporary Reciprocity to Ensure Access to Treatment Act or the TREAT Act This bill temporarily authorizes the interstate provision of mental health telehealth services during a declared national emergency. Specifically, subject to scope of practice and other requirements, a health care professional may provide mental health services via telehealth in any U.S. jurisdiction based on that individual's authorization to practice in any one state or territory. The bill also provides certain related powers to health care professional regulatory bodies, such as medical boards. Specifically, a regulatory body may investigate and take disciplinary actions against a professional who provides services pursuant to this bill to a patient in that body's jurisdiction.