On March 21st, the White House honored ten Champions of Change  - including NASW member Alice Kitchen of Kansas City – who are dedicated to improving access to health care. These individuals are helping others in their community understand the impact and opportunities from the health care law, the Affordable Care Act. “The President’s health law gives hard working, middle-class families the security they... 

Two years ago, President Obama signed the historic health care bill, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law. Social workers strongly support the law because it makes vital improvements to health care access, quality and services for millions of Americans with health and behavioral health needs. In particular, the ACA addresses many issues for women in improving access to coverage and care. A significant benefit of the... 

Political Climate Presidential Race—GOP Primary Now that several Republican primaries and caucuses have taken place, Mitt Romney has taken a considerable—though not insurmountable—lead over his nearest competitors.  Super Tuesday’s most crucial state was Ohio, which Romney narrowly won.  With Rick Santorum winning three states and coming close in Ohio, along with Newt Gingrich’s victory in Georgia, Romney... 

From March 26 to 28, 2012, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Florida, et al., v. Department of Health and Human Services, et al., the challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) brought by the attorneys general of 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Businesses.  A ruling is expected by the end of June.  The ACA is already benefiting millions of Americans.  Striking down the... 

The Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently held a Listening Session on LGBT and HIV/AIDS Issues.  The meeting, comprised of stakeholders from LGBT organizations and HIV/AIDS organizations, as well as larger membership organizations such as the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), was convened by Director, Leon Rodriquez.  During the meeting, Director Rodriquez stressed the OCR’s... 

On February 17, Congress passed the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, H.R. 3630 which includes a provision to extend the TANF program through September 30, 2012. This was not a clean extension, meaning there were changes to the program included. The first change requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to set (by proposed and final rule) data exchange standards for information that... 

On Monday, February 13, President Obama released his fiscalyear 2013 budget proposal. It includes $3.67 trillion in new budget authority, a 3.7 percent reduction from 2012 levels. It includes $1.15 trillion in discretionary spending and $2.27 trillion in mandatory spending. You can find information about the budget on the White House web site.  Read More →

NASW Submits Recommendations on EHB On January 31, NASW sent the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recommendations to strengthen the Essential Health Benefits (EHB). NASW made a strong appeal for a comprehensive, uniform set of national health benefits, and suggested that weak, state-based EHB packages will harm low-income and vulnerable individuals.  NASW also appealed to DHHS for development of a national... 

The minimum wage is typically regarded as gender neutral, but there’s another aspect to this issue: workers whose tips are part of their overall compensation.  From that point of view, women are doing considerably worse than men. The federal minimum wage for tipped restaurant workers is $2.13, the same as in 1992.  Granted, restaurants are supposed to fill in the gap between that figure and the minimum wage of $7.25,... 

A recent Op-Ed in the NY Daily News, “When social work is a felony” paints a fearful and distorted picture of an issue NASW-NYS has dedicated a considerable amount of energy and resources, in conjunction with the NYS Education Department- Office of the Professions, allied social work organizations, and executives of agencies impacted by the corporate practice statute to resolve the issue. The resulting waiver process,...