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2005 Legislative Agenda of the
Clinical Social Work Federation
The legislative agenda of the Clinical Social Work Federation is centered this
year on three priority issues and bills:
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The Equity for Clinical Social Workers Act of 2005 (S. 61) would allow LCSWs to be reimbursed for mental health treatment provided under Medicare at a level comparable with other mental health providers providing services under the same CPT codes. (See the Position Paper by clicking Alerts.
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The Clinical Social Work Medicare Equity Act of 2005 (S. 1148 and HR. 2736) would allow LCSWs to provide independent mental health treatment to clients in skilled nursing facilities (inadvertently eliminated in the 1997 Balanced Budget Act).
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The Medicare Mental Health Equity Act of 2005 (S. 1152 and HR. 1125) would end the discriminatory co-pay required for mental health treatment, so that co-pay would be the same for medical conditions and for mental health conditions.
The Federation is also tracking HR
1709 (STOHP) which would restore privacy protections and S 127 and HR 234, which
would allow LCSWs to conduct Workmen’s Compensation mental health evaluations.
However, it does not appear that any of these bills has a strong chance of
passing this year.
Get Involved!
Each year the CSWF representatives from state societies all over the US spend a
day on the Hill. Armed with a folder of information prepared by the Governmental
Relations Committee that includes background Information on our legislative
priorities, action requested; instructions on how to locate the offices of your
national legislators, if needed; CSWF and Clinical Social Work Fact Sheets to be
distributed to legislators and/or staff; general information on what to do in a
meeting with a legislator; position papers for each targeted issue; text of all
Bills we support; and a list of Co-Sponsors for each bills we support.
This packet of information is available to any Society member who wants to be an
advocate; call the GWSCSW office at 202 537 0007 if you are interested. Please
add your voice in support of our three priority issues. Remember, you don’t need
to go to the Hill; the in-district addresses of your Senators and members of
Congress can be found by going to
http://www.thomas.loc.gov, click on “Quick Links” in the middle of the page
to “House Directory” or “Senate Directory”, then the websites for your members
of Congress, which will have in-district addresses listed.
Laura Groshong, a clinical social worker in Seattle, Washington, is the
Government Relations Chair for the Clinical Social Work Federation.