Action Needed Now: Medicare Bill Moves Back to Senate

Take Action!

A crucial Senate floor vote on Medicare legislation is expected on Sunday, June 29. Email your Senators now, urging them to support “cloture” on HR. 6331. Send the message below to support passage of this important bill for clinical social workers. Simply enter your zip code and send this preformed letter.

Message: I am writing as a constituent, professional social worker, and member of the National Association of Social Workers. I urge you to support passage of the Medicare Bill (HR. 6331) on the floor. This bill includes vital improvements to ensure Medicare beneficiaries have access to high-quality mental health care.

The bill is especially important for the Medicare beneficiaries I serve, as it restores funding for clinical social work payments cut in 2007. This cut has placed the Medicare mental health benefit at risk and addressing it must be a top priority in any Medicare legislation this year. I also am pleased the bill finally treats mental health coverage equally with other medical benefits, providing Medicare coinsurance parity and halting the scheduled 10.6% cut for all outpatient provider payments. Please vote to pass H.R. 6331. It will make a real difference for the beneficiaries I serve.

Background: The Medicare bill, also known as the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, (HR. 6331) includes important provisions for clinical social workers, including a rate increase for clinical social work services cut in 2007. Clinical social worker rates would increase for psychotherapy and related services by 5% ($45 million) for 18 months from July 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009, above the rate given to other medical services. Given strong pressure from the White House to narrow the bill, this is a huge victory for clinical social workers and psychologists who have worked to restore psychotherapy rates in Medicare. Very importantly, this compromise House and Senate bill contains a Medicare coinsurance parity provision, reducing beneficiaries’ copayments by 5% per year from 50% in 2009 to 20% in 2014 - at full parity with medical and surgical benefits. This is a crucial legislative goal long sought by NASW. This year’s Medicare package is designed primarily to halt the scheduled 10.6% cut in all Part B provider payment rates. This compromise bill would postpone the cut for 18 months, beginning July 1, 2008 and increase payments for all providers by 1.1% for 2009, including clinical social workers participating in Part B. In addition to the 1.1% increase in 2009, clinical social workers would receive an increase of 5% (effective July 1, 2008) above those of other providers, if this bill passes. Since the House has already approved HR. 6331, this bill will immediately be sent to the President for consideration. It is unclear whether he would sign it in its present form.

A Piece is Missing: Unfortunately, this compromise bill does not include language sought by NASW permitting clinical social workers to bill separately for services to Medicare Part A nursing home residents (Clinical Social Work Medicare Equity Act, S.1212). This provision was included in an earlier House Medicare package (HR. 3162) and NASW will continue fighting to get this bill enacted next year. For more background on legislative activity, see NASW’s website: NASW recent Medicare alerts.