March proved yet another tumultuous month for congressional consideration of legislation establishing Medicare payment rates. Physicians, clinical social workers and other health professionals that bill Medicare Part B independently face a scheduled rate cut of 21 percent on April 1. Fortunately, this week the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) delayed the scheduled formula payment cuts until after... 

On March 17, 2010, Education Secretary Arne Duncan testified before the House Education and Labor Committee on the Obama Administration’s newly released blueprint for revamping the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as the No Child Left Behind Act. He focused on the themes of college and career readiness, accountability for all students, and incentives for states to improve their approach... 

March 2010 Political Climate Other than the year-long health care battle, which appears to be approaching an end game through the reconciliation process, Capitol Hill is focused on two primary issues.  One is the budgetary process.  President Obama has submitted his budgetary requests to Congress, but it is up to the House and Senate to actually create the budget itself.  NASW is lobbying extensively in areas where... 

The House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education held a hearing on March 18, 2010 titled “Elementary and Secondary Education Act Reauthorization: Addressing the Needs of Diverse Students” to examine how schools can appropriately educate low-income, minority, English Language Learners, disabled, Native American, and homeless students within the context of reauthorizing ... 

Not long after Barack Obama was elected President, he worked closely with Eric Shinseki, Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), on eliminating homelessness among people who are veterans.  The issue became so important that Sec. Shinseki publicly stated that he wanted to completely end veteran homelessness by 2015. The VA is taking some immediate steps to aid homeless veterans.  Recently, a webpage was... 

On March 18, Congress coupled the Student Aid bill with health reform legislation to advance President Obama’s two major domestic policy issues, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act (H.R. 4872). NASW strongly supports this bill and has tirelessly advocated for the creation of public policies that make health care and higher education more affordable and accessible for all Americans. The... 

On March 17, the House of Representatives passed the Professional Social Work Month and World Social Work Day Resolution honoring social workers by a vote of 419-0.  Social worker and Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter managed the bill during the debate.  To view the debate and final passage, please go to: Video of Reps. Shea-Porter and Guthrie managing the social work month resolution: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/292544-2... 

As the debate for health care reform continues in Congress, there are many resources available from many organizations.  On the NASW Health care reform page, you will find informative documents including a one-pager from Health Care for America Now entitled, Five Immediate Benefits to Health Care Reform.  Go to the resources section of the health care reform page to read more.  Read More →

Dear Social Work Student – Is your school using the Professional Social Worker pin to recognize graduating students? Ask your school to consider the silver-plated Professional Social Worker pin at commencement. Just $10 each for schools of social work, the pins distinguish Social Work from other programs on campus, and instill pride in the profession. All funds from the Social Work pins support the National Social Work... 

At a time when demand for child welfare services is growing and more investments are needed, the faltering economy is driving record state budget deficits and reductions in child welfare funding. NPR aired a 2-part story on this issue.  In part 1, Michael Petit, a social worker, NASW member, and President and Founder of Every Child Matters, was quoted regarding the state budget cuts.   Part 2 addressed the long term...