|
 |
|
To find out who your legislator is call 202-224-3121. |
Legislative News - Maryland
ABOUT OUR LEGISLATIVE CONSULTANT:
Alice Neily is a mental health professional who has practiced for twenty-three years in the mental health system, in venues ranging from community mental health centers to university settings, local, state and federal hospitals and federal Medicare and Medicaid systems. She spearheaded the legislation which guarantees the right of clinical social workers to be reimbursed for services; she also directed the lobbying effort resulting in Maryland’s mental health parity law, which became a model for other states. Over the years, she has formed relationships with a wide network of health care interests in Annapolis.
Ms. Neily recently was named one of Maryland's 100 Top Women for 2006 by the Daily Record for commitment to community service, mentoring, and professional achievement. Her website, http://www.Capitalconsultantsofmd.com, provides a single point of internet entry for social work legislative access needs.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - MARYLAND - September 2008
This summer, the Maryland Legislative Council of Social Work Organizations - the coalition of GWSCSW and MSCSW (the Maryland Society for Clinical Social Work) - was one of only two organizations from the clinical community invited to make a presentation at the Joint Commission on Access to Mental Health Services hearing in Annapolis. (The other was the Maryland Psychological Association.)
Representing the Council at the July 29 hearing, MSCSW president Martha Miller summarized the points in the Council’s written testimony. The focus was the survey conducted by the Council over the past year on the effects of declining reimbursement rates and other insurance company practices on the ability of social workers to continue participation in insurance networks and carry out our core values of treating all Marylanders who are in need.
Ms. Miller ended her testimony with thanks to the legislators for the opportunity to share our concerns and a plea that they “…understand that our concern is not just about money. It is about preventing burn-out, about preserving a positive therapeutic frame of mind toward the most challenging and demanding clients, and about feeling – and being - valued…. When therapists drop out of panels, it is so they might practice in a way that makes them feel good about their professional identity, providing quality care without the negative intrusion of insurance company limitations.”
Ms. Miller and your lobbyist then spent an afternoon of advocacy with the legislators, insurance company representatives, and mental health professional organizations in attendance.
Asked by the Commission for recommendations for legislative or regulatory change that would lead to a more accessible high quality mental health system; the Council’s follow-up letter highlighted the following:
Promote the true parity legislature introduced by Delegate Morhaim in the 2007 legislative session removing the limitation of 20% co pay to the first five treatment sessions;
create incentives for hospitals to treat persons with mental illness in their community hospital settings;
Refine the legislation to require Networks to accurately reflect the availability of professional providers in their panels including the most recent history of accepting new patients;
Increase reimbursement rates for clinical social workers for Medicaid and other provider reimbursement plans so that experienced and skilled clinical social workers have incentives to work with this population;
Alter state laws to protect solo practitioners as well as those in networks;
Enforce and refine the current law enabling a credentials process which provides incentives for clinical social workers to accept and treat new patients;
Urge the Reimbursement Task Force to focus on all mental health providers, specifically clinical social workers and psychologists, who are underutilized in the mental health system because of underpayment;
Urge the Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA) to address the recent obstacle imposed by the carriers to have “preferred status” by January of 2009, or leave all their networks. (The “incentive” for switching from “participating” to “preferred” will be a 10% reduction in allowed fees);
Urge support for Parity with the passage of HR 1424 - the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act; and
Urge the MIA to explore the most recent technique used by one of the larger insurers for delaying payment to providers in their HMO and PPO networks by denials of claims for individual treatment, based on “inappropriate service for this diagnosis.”
By participating on the Reimbursement Task Force, testifying at the Joint Commission, and by following up with meetings, calls, and correspondence, the Legislative Council has been demonstrating that clinical social workers are interested and willing to participate. This in turn helps convince legislators to become advocates for clinical social work issues in the future.
Alice Neily Mutch of Capital Consultants of Maryland is a lobbyist for the Legislative Council, the coalition of GWSCSW and MSCSW. Her website http://www.capitalconsultantsofmd.com provides a wealth of information about Maryland legislation and legislators.
Some files above are in PDF format. PDF files will open in a new browser window. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Viewer installed, you can download a FREE copy of it in order to view/print these files. Click on the "Get Acrobat Reader" button to get your copy today.
For GSCSW Legislative Information contact:
GWSCSW
PO Box 3235
Oakton VA 22124
202-537-0007
Fax: 703-938-8389
email: gwscsw@gmail.comWebsite http://www.gwscsw.org