Congress Extends the Ryan White Act Last week, Congress passed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009. The bill will extend for four years the Ryan White Program, which provides lifesaving and life-extending health care, medications and support services to over 530,000 low-income people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. On October 21, the bill passed the House floor on a vote of 408 to... 

The National Association of Social Workers has steadfastly been involved with hate crimes legislation for over a decade. On October 22, 2009 NASW’S tireless efforts came to fruition with the passage, by the Senate, of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act by a 68-29 vote. The hate crimes initiative was included in the Fiscal Year 2010 Department of Defense Authorization Report passed... 

Clinical social workers that participate in Medicare Part B will have their payment rates protected against a large cut provided the Senate acts favorably on the “Medicare Physician Fairness Act of 2009” (S. 1776). This legislation would permanently repeal the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula that determines future payment rates in Medicare and TRICARE. The SGR formula is frequently inappropriately... 

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET Credit Hours: 0 CEU(s) Click Here to Register Now! Kyrsten Sinema, MSW, JD is Arizona’s Assistant House Democratic Leader. She will discuss how lessons learned in Arizona apply to health reform nationally. Sinema is one of 32 state legislators nationwide — the only state lawmaker from Arizona — selected for President Obama’s White House Health Reform Task... 

On these days, millions of people all around the world will take part in a united action of standing up in support of the end of poverty and the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals. Social workers can play a key role on this day, as they do every day fighting against poverty in the U.S. and around the globe. The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and to help... 

The Montana Supreme Court issued an opinion earlier this week in a case where NASW earlier filed an amicus brief.  The case concerned the parenting rights of individuals in same-sex relationships.  NASW had filed an amicus brief supporting recognition of the parent- child attachment between the non-biological mother and the two children she had raised jointly with her partner of ten years.  Below are links to the ACLU... 

Video: Can We Live up to the Social Work Legacy? Please take a moment to view a video NASW just recorded for you regarding the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act (H.R. 795/ S.686. This legislation is a first step to address serious workforce challenges such as low salaries, high educational debt, and safety concerns and will determine the best course of action to strengthen... 

In an effort to keep you informed of the work NASW is doing on health care reform, we will periodically send out a roundup of activities. For ongoing information, please visit our health care reform page. Congress Advances Health Care Reform Congress made major progress last week on health reform legislation. House leaders continued to negotiate merging three somewhat different committee versions of their bill into... 

On October 5, the country’s largest African-American and Latino organizations announced they are joining forces with other major national civil rights and grassroots organizations to mobilize the nation’s 100 million people of color for a final push in support of universal health care reform.  The organizations included the NAACP National Voter Fund, the National Council of La Raza, the Leadership Council... 

The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing entitled, “Prohibiting Price Fixing and Other Anticompetitive Conduct in the Health Insurance Industry” scheduled for Wednesday, October 14, 2009. The hearing concerns identical new bills (S. 1681 and H.R. 3596) that NASW is watching. The legislation would eliminate a long-standing federal law that excludes the insurance industry from federal anti-trust...