Does The Health Plan WV Medicaid Cover Supervised Psychologists?
By Bomi Health • October 30, 2026
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Does The Health Plan cover supervised psychologists for West Virginia Medicaid?
Yes, within the specific practitioner-office exception in The Health Plan’s July 2026 Mountain Health Trust manual. A supervised psychologist must be officially approved by the West Virginia Board of Examiners of Psychologists and appear in its directory. The same passage generally excludes unlicensed personnel from billing behavioral-health services in a practitioner’s practice, apart from this exception and separately defined OBMAT exceptions.
This is a West Virginia Medicaid answer. It does not approve every psychology student or graduate, establish an associate-counselor pathway, or determine coverage for every service a supervised psychologist could perform.
Where does the exception apply?
Page 71 addresses practitioner practices. It excludes offices within Licensed Behavioral Health Centers from this guideline. FQHCs and RHCs are also outside the described billing procedures, although credentialing requirements still apply. Those settings need their own governing requirements.
For an office considering a supervised psychologist, confirm the exact Board status before assigning members. A school placement, supervisor relationship or completed degree alone is not the named approval. The individual service, network arrangement and member benefit must also fit.
Can LGSWs, LCSWs or other associates use older billing guidance?
Do not rely on an older credentialing exception as a current permission. The 2024 manual contained special language for LGSWs and LCSWs under a medical professional’s guidance. The current July 2026 chapter instead requires credentialing of all licensed behavioral-health practitioners in a practitioner’s practice and does not repeat that exception.
That change is not proof that every service by an LGSW or LCSW is prohibited. It means the old exemption cannot establish current participation or supervisor-billing approval. This guide establishes the named supervised-psychologist exception; it does not supply a separate current associate-social-worker or counselor claim pathway.
Whose NPI and which modifier should be used?
The current passage does not specify a supervised-psychologist rendering-NPI crosswalk or modifier. Do not guess that Board approval means the supervisor’s NPI replaces the treating clinician. Before filing, obtain the applicable claim-field instructions for this provider arrangement.
The Health Plan’s claims page identifies payer ID 95677. That identifies the payer, not an exception to its clinician rules. This guide does not recommend changing clearinghouses or treating a transaction identifier as evidence of permission.
Why this guide does not extend the answer to WVCHIP
The current chapter says Medicaid and WVCHIP credentialing and billing rules are aligned, but the preceding WVCHIP section also requires fully licensed, credentialed practitioners. This guide does not resolve that tension into a CHIP supervised-psychologist approval. Obtain a product-specific answer before applying the Medicaid exception to a CHIP member.
Sources and review date
Reviewed October 30, 2026. The payer’s live manual index links the July 1, 2026 edition. Relevant pages in its Mountain Health Trust chapter are 70–71. Older 2024 language is used only to explain why an old exception should not be carried forward. The review date is not a new payer-policy effective date.
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