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LEGISLATION & ADVOCACY - MARYLAND
Alice Neily
The 2006 legislative session began on Jan 11 with great acrimony, as an
unprecedented twelve bills - passed by the 2005 legislature but vetoed by
Governor Erlich – were reinstated with overrides voted along strictly partisan
lines. In particular, the WalMart bill was highly divisive, leaving political
wounds.
Construction on the floors of the House building initially slowed the
introduction of new bills. However, as a rule more bills are introduced in the
fourth year of any term than in any other, and one can expect that by the April
11, when the session ends, legislators will have reviewed about 4,000 bills.
The status of any initiative can change in the course of a few hours. As of this
writing, several proposals will be of special interest to clinical social
workers. Your legislative committee will keep you informed via your listserve (gwscsw@yahoogroups.com),
and let you know when it is time to make calls to your representatives.
First, there are a handful of proposed bills concerning the way in which
providers are compensated for services, designed to make the reimbursement
process easier and to make it more difficult for insurers to deny services.
Second, certain proposed policy changes would affect the Maryland social work
scope of practice, enabling clinical social workers (with appropriate training)
to participate in the competency evaluation process for children who are in the
court system, and possibly in the evaluation of disability (re: mental health)
in the Workers’ Compensation system as well.
Finally, certain initiatives would bring clients greater access to the mental
health system. Among these proposals are a cost of living adjustment (COLA) in
pay rates for community-based mental heath providers, a study of Case Rates for
children psychiatric rehabilitation programs, and a bill to increase funding for
secondary prevention services to children though local management board (LMB)
appropriations. Still another proposal would mandate pre-authorization for
emergency psychiatric hospitalizations to a two hour time period and provide
relief in the form of longer authorization periods.
Much that happens in Annapolis this year will be setting the stage for change
after the November election. If LCSW-Cs are to be invited to the decision-making
table in the future four years, visibility this year is crucial. Please support
your legislative committee with a strong grassroots showing of calls, notes and
emails in response to legislative alerts.
Alice Neily of Capital Consultants of Maryland is the lobbyist for the Maryland Legislative Council of Social Work Organizations, a coalition of GWSCSW and the Maryland Society for Clinical Social Work.
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