Jenna Eisenhart spent nearly six years as a licensed therapist in Colorado before deciding to move to a place with a greater need for her services. She researched rural states facing a shortage of behavioral health providers and accepted a job as a lead clinical primary therapist at Shodair Children\u2019s Hospital in Helena, Montana, in January 2018.<\/p>\n

But she couldn\u2019t start her new job right away because state officials denied her application for a license to practice in Montana on the grounds that her master\u2019s degree program required only 48 credits to complete instead of 60.<\/p>\n

Eisenhart spent nearly $7,000 to earn 12 more credits to meet the requirement, something she acknowledged not every provider would be able, or want, to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m coming here as a licensed therapist to provide services that Montana desperately needs and you\u2019re saying, no, you\u2019re educationally deficient, when that\u2019s not actually true,\u201d said Eisenhart, now the director of clinical services at Shodair. \u201cIt kind of made me feel unwanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eisenhart\u2019s difficulties are an example of the problems that health professionals can have in obtaining a Montana license to practice. State lawmakers are considering proposals to make it easier for professionals with out-of-state licenses to work in Montana. The need to attract more workers is particularly acute amid a national mental health crisis<\/a> and a worker shortage, both heightened by the covid-19 pandemic. But lawmakers, behavioral health advocates, and providers say the need is so great, they doubt that lowering barriers for out-of-state practitioners will be enough.<\/p>\n

One measure, House Bill 101<\/a>, sponsored by Republican Rep. Jane Gillette and drafted by the Children, Family, Health and Human Services Interim Committee, covers social workers, professional counselors, addiction counselors, marriage and family therapists, and behavioral health peer support specialists. It would let the Department of Labor & Industry automatically license those providers in Montana if they meet certain requirements, like having an active license from another state for at least a year and having proper educational credentials.<\/p>\n

Eisenhart said if the bill had been in effect in 2018, she wouldn\u2019t have had to jump through as many hoops to work in Montana.<\/p>\n

Another, House Bill 152<\/a> sponsored by Republican Rep. Bill Mercer and requested by the state Department of Labor & Industry as part of Gov. Greg Gianforte\u2019s \u201cRed Tape Relief\u201d initiative<\/a>, aims to streamline the licensing process for all occupations regulated by the department, from nurses to real estate appraisers.<\/p>\n

HB 152 is designed to simplify the process for licensing the more than 50 professions and 150 types of licenses under the purview of the labor department, Eric Strauss, administrator of the department\u2019s Employment Standards Division, said in a Jan. 18 committee hearing on the bill.<\/p>\n

Last year, the department received more than 21,300 applications for licensure across professions, and half of those were from out-of-state professionals, said Dave Cook, the department\u2019s deputy administrator of professional licensing. Health care-related licenses had an even higher share of out-of-state applicants \u2014 60%, he said.<\/p>\n

HB 152 would improve license mobility by creating a standard the department uses across professions to determine whether out-of-state license holders are qualified to work in Montana, department officials said. It also would establish a timeline of 30 days for the agency to issue a license after receiving a completed application.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis helps the engineer, psychologist, social worker, or cosmetologist who has practiced for 20 years to get licensed without being required to get additional education or take an examination,\u201d said department spokesperson Jessica Nelson.<\/p>\n

Though the two bills have the same aim, labor department officials criticized Gillette\u2019s bill on behavioral health worker licensing as not going far enough to remove obstacles for out-of-state workers.<\/p>\n

HB 101 \u201ccreates additional burdens to licensure, including requiring residency and mandating that a particular licensing examination has been taken,\u201d Nelson wrote in an email. \u201cThese are issues that HB 152 is attempting to reform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gillette said she doesn\u2019t think her bill or Gianforte\u2019s bill alone would solve the workforce problem in health care. To make a substantial change, Gillette said, Medicaid provider reimbursement rates need to be higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll do something but it\u2019s not going to fix it by any stretch,\u201d Gillette said, referring to streamlining the licensing process.<\/p>\n