In 1987, the U.S. House of Representatives designated the full third week in April as “National Minority Cancer Awareness Week.  The resolution drew attention to, “an unfortunate, but extremely important fact about cancer.  While cancer affects men and women of every age, race, ethnic background and economic class, the disease has a disproportionately severe impact on minorities and the economically disadvantaged.”  Each year National Minority Cancer Awareness Week promotes increased awareness of prevention and treatment among those segments of the populations at greater risk of developing cancer.  According to the National Cancer Institute, ethnic and minority populations across the United States suffer disproportionately from cancer and its after-effects. Overcoming cancer health disparities is one of the best opportunities we have for lessening the burden of cancer.

To learn more about NASW’s work in addressing cancer, please go to:

Free online continuing education courses in understanding cancer, cancer caregiving, and adherence to cancer oral medications:  http://www.naswwebed.org/. 

Articles for the public:   www.helpstartshere.org.

Health Specialty Practice Section:  http://www.socialworkers.org/sections/default.asp.

Credentials:  http://www.socialworkers.org/credentials/default.asp. 

Standards: http://www.socialworkers.org/practice/default.asp.  

Publications:  www.naswpress.org. 

Cancer Survivor Toolbox ®:  http://www.canceradvocacy.org/toolbox/. 

This is a free, self-learning audio program that has been developed by leading cancer organizations to help people develop important skills to better meet and understand the challenges of their illness.

In concert with other social justice partners, NASW, on April 20, 2010 observed Equal Pay Day by calling for passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R.12/S.182).  Equal Pay Day highlights salary inequity endured by women across America and seeks to eliminate the wage gap between men and women through meaningful federal legislation.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would strengthen the 1963 Equal Pay Act and dismantle wage disparity evidenced by women who successfully perform comparable work that is occupationally equivalent to men.  This injustice and discriminatory practice is a continuing threat to the welfare of families who rely solely on women’s wages to survive.  The impact of this inequality increases over the years, as women experience poverty and personal wage deficits that extend to individual savings, pensions, unemployment benefits and even Social Security.

NASW will continue to advocate for women’s economic security and fairness in the workplace by seeking enactment of the Paycheck Fairness Act.  The Association urges Congress to support the efforts of Social Workers as we advance public policies that alleviate intolerance and promote equality for all.

Take Action Today!

Action Requested

Contact your Representative today about signing on as a cosponsor to H.R. 5040, the “HIT Extension for Behavioral Health Services Act.”

Background

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) has introduced bi-partisan legislation along with Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), a clinical psychologist, called the Health Information Technology Extension for Behavioral Health Services Act of 2010 (H.R. 5040). The bill, introduced on April 15, 2010, would extend the new Medicare and Medicaid “meaningful use” incentive payments established under the HITECH Act within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to clinical social workers and other mental health and substance abuse providers and facilities.

ARRA provides $20 billion in incentives and grants to health care providers and hospitals to establish interoperable electronic health record (EHR) systems throughout the nation. Medicare and Medicaid ARRA payment incentives are available to most physicians, chiropractors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and hospitals.  However, Congress excluded from eligibility behavioral health providers, as well as most non-physician practitioners, because of cost concerns when the law was enacted in 2009. Among those providers who would be eligible for the payments under Rep. Kennedy’s H.R. 5040 are clinical social workers, clinical psychologists, psychiatric hospitals, substance use treatment facilities and mental health treatment facilities.

As enacted, ARRA establishes a vast national EHR system that excludes the electronic patient records of clinical social workers’ and other behavioral health providers. If the current law’s deficiency is not corrected, the behavioral health records of many consumers will likely remain in paper form and therefore less accessible to other health care providers. Nevertheless, there is a high risk that excluded providers would be compelled to use electronic health records systems to participate within commercial provider networks and to obtain EHR information from covered physicians and facilities. NASW is a supporter of strong patient privacy protections established within ARRA, and also believes that quality of care will likely be seriously compromised if the records of clinical social workers and other behavioral health providers remain excluded from developing EHR systems.

Details on H.R. 5040

NASW believes it is essential to integrate care delivered by clinical social workers with other behavioral health and medical providers, and this legislation will be an important priority for enactment. The Health Information Technology Extension for Behavioral Health Services Act would:

• Clarify the definition “health care provider” throughout the HITECH/ARRA Act to include clinical social workers and psychologists, substance abuse professionals, psychiatric hospital, behavioral and mental health clinics, and substance use treatment facilities.
• Establish grants for those mental health treatment facilities not eligible for meaningful use incentives through the HITECH/ARRA Act. The grants allow for purchasing certified EHRs, training medical staff in the use of EHRs, and improving the exchange of health information between mental health providers and other health care providers.

Extend Medicare and Medicaid payment incentives for meaningful use of EHRs to clinical social workers and psychologists, psychiatric hospitals, mental health treatment facilities, and substance abuse treatment facilities.

Social work pioneer and civil rights leader, Dr. Dorothy I. Height passed away on April 20. Within 24 hours, the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives passed separate resolutions celebrating Dr. Height’s life of and recognizing her lifelong dedication and leadership in the struggle for civil rights for all people.

To view the House resolution, H.RES.1281, go to:

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:hr1281eh.txt.pdf

To view the Senate resolution, S. RES. 492, go to:

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:sr492ats.txt.pdf

Due to Dr. Height’s proud legacy as a social worker, NASW named its comprehensive bill addressing the social work profession after her and another social work pioneer, Whitney Young.  The Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young Social Work Reinvestment Act (SWRA) would address the challenges of recruitment, retention, research, and reinvestment in the social work profession. To read more about the SWRA, go to http://www.socialworkreinvestment.org/2009/SWRA/default.html

On April 23, Dr. Height was posthumously given the NASW lifetime achievement award at the conclusion of the Social Work Congress. http://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/2010/0304103.asp

NASW Statement of the Passing of Dr. Dorothy Height: http://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/2010/042010Height.asp

To view a biography of Dr. Dorothy Height for the Social Work Pioneers go to: http://www.naswfoundation.org/pioneers/h/height.html

April 2010 – First Edition

Political Climate
After Health Care Reform was signed into law, Congress left on a much needed recess in late March and early April.  Politically speaking, most Members of Congress are trying to improve their polling numbers at a time when many Americans have expressed anti-incumbent sentiments.  As a result, legislators don’t seem to have much appetite for especially controversial bills through the late spring and summer.  Both parties want to avoid negative attention; Republicans because it could hinder their potential electoral gains in November and Democrats because they want to limit whatever losses they could suffer in the House and Senate.  Still, the budgetary process awaits Congress upon their return.  That always involves a certain amount of partisan wrangling, especially at a time when Congress simply must fund certain programs while remaining mindful of the federal deficit and possible arguments that they are spending too much money.

NASW Releases “Legal Issue of the Month” on Federal Parity Rules
Social workers now have an important resource available to understand the new federal mental health parity law. NASW has just released its April 2010 issue of Legal Issue of the Month, which provides an overview of new interim final regulations for the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity Act of 2008 (Parity Act). Three federal agencies are responsible for implementing the Parity Act rules, and they have jointly issued a set of interim final rules that detail requirements for health plans subject to the new law.  The much-anticipated regulations provide a 90-day public comment period, ending May 3, 2010, and NASW is currently preparing extensive comments on the new rules that advocate for the interests of consumers and the profession.

The Interim Parity Rule became effective April 5, 2010, and is generally applicable to health plans with plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2010.  The Legal Issue of the Month article provides a summary of the regulations to aid in understanding whether patients’ rights are being effectively protected under the new law. The new issue appears here and NASW members must login in with their userID and password to access the article.

Professional Social Worker Services in Health Care Reform
Wondering what’s in the new health care reform law to advance the social work profession? NASW recently released a very popular briefing on the various ways the new law will directly impact the social work profession. Interested social workers may view it here.

White House Provides Resources on Health Care Reform Law
The White House website offers a wide array of materials to explain the new federal health care reform law and its impact on consumers, providers, businesses and payers.  You may find these resources helpful as you seek reliable information and explanations of the complex new law. Social workers that wish to learn more about the law in easily understood briefing sheets should see the White House website here.

What About Medicare Rates for Part B Practitioners?
Many NASW members have recently contacted the national office requesting information about pending legislation to address Medicare billing rates for all Part B independent practitioners, including clinical social workers. Since Congress has been recessed for the past two weeks, there has been no new action since our last update. It may be found here. The Senate is expected to pass this provision by April 16.

Time is Running Out! Reinvest in the Profession.
With less than 60 days left in the Congressional calendar, we are running out of time in the 111^th Congress to pass the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act (H.R. 795/S. 686). Contact your Representative and Senators TODAY in support of this bill. We really need your help if you are represented by any members of the House Committee on Education and Labor. We already have 83 cosponsors in the House and 12 in the Senate but if we are unsuccessful in passing this bill, we will have to start over in the 112^th Congress.

Congressman Towns Contacts President Obama and Secretary Sebelius in Support of Social Work
The lead sponsor of the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act, Congressman and social worker Ed Towns (D-NY) sent a letter to the President and Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) urging them to establish a Social Work Reinvestment Commission within the HHS. Rep. Towns says that, “social workers are a key resource for the nation’s most vulnerable populations including older adults, children, the impoverished, veterans, and people at risk for disparate health and behavioral health services access.” He goes on to state that workforce challenges are preventing our profession from recruiting and retaining enough social workers to keep pace with the increasing demand for our services. Rep. Towns states that, “The federal government has previously invested in comparable professions such as nursing and teaching when faced with workforce shortages. We now much focus on social work by establishing this Commission…” NASW thanks Rep. Towns for his unwavering support of the profession.

Help for Veterans Who are Homeless
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 created  on the VA site.  If you know or work with a veteran who is homeless, please pass this information along to them.

Congressional Hearing about Educating Diverse Students
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.”  The purpose of the hearing was to examine how schools can appropriately educate low-income, minority, English Language Learners, disabled, Native American, and homeless students within the context of reauthorizing  the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as the No Child Left Behind Act.

This goal was expressed by Subcommittee Chairman Representative Dale Kildee (D-MI) in his opening statement: “While the No Child Left Behind Act shed light on the inequalities in our education system, it unfortunately did not do enough to close the achievement gap for diverse students…This must be a top priority for future steps in education reform.”

To this end, the Subcommittee considered recommendations from a panel of educators, advocates, and a researcher working to close the achievement gap for diverse students. They included Dr. Daniel Curry, Superintendent for the Lake Forest School District in Felton, Delaware, Dr. Jack Dale, Superintendent for Fairfax County Public Schools in Falls Church, Virginia, Arelis Diaz, Assistant Superintendent for Godwin Heights Public Schools in Wyoming, Michigan, Dr. David Gipp, President of United Tribes Technical College (UTTC), Jacqui Farmer Kearns, Principal Investigator for the National Alternate Assessment Center, and Michael Wotorson, Executive Director of Campaign for High School Equity. (more…)

As social workers we often serve as volunteers and have volunteers serve with us. Volunteers are essential to the operation of so many non-profit organizations.  President Obama signed a proclamation for National Volunteer Week, April 18-24, 2010. In the proclamation, he states, “During National Volunteer Week, we honor the ordinary people who give of themselves to accomplish extraordinary things, and we encourage more Americans to strengthen our country by volunteering.” To read the full proclamation, visit the White House Web site. To find out where to serve in your community, go to www.serve.gov.

This week brings to mind two very important issues: Pay Equity and Title IX (which bars gender-based discrimination in high school and college activities, including athletics). Both issues have been widely mentioned this week, and many people have weighed in on the importance of both.

But the bottom line is not whether we achieve these goals, but how we achieve them. While we all laud the goals of Title IX, the unfortunate truth is that many colleges and universities simply eliminate men’s sports, rather than add women’s sports, in order to achieve compliance. It’s not difficult to envision a similar danger in pay equity; a 22% cut in men’s pay would close the gap between the genders.

NASW advocates for a society that is not just statistically fair, but one that is actually fair. This can only be accomplished through enhanced and expanded opportunities for women, not through reductions in men’s opportunities that only serve to harm both men and women.

NASW will remain dedicated to these issues until their twin goals are achieved the right way, through fairness without compromise.

The policies of NASW have clearly and consistently stated the profession’s commitment towards ensuring that all local, state, federal, and international policies and/or legislation ban all forms of discrimination, including those based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, age, disability, and/or relationship or familial status.

Therefore, NASW was pleased when President Obama issued a memorandumthat outlines new rules for hospital visitation on April 15.  The memorandum bars publically funded hospitals from denying visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, which directly speaks to the practice standards of the social work profession.

The memorandum states that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will disseminate rules for hospitals that receive Medicaid or Medicare funds to require them to respect the rights of patients to designate visitors.  In addition, the President directed HHS to report back to him in 180 days with additional recommendations about actions it can take to address hospital visitation, medical decision-making and other health care issues that affect LGBT patients and their families.  To read the entire memorandum, go to:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-memorandum-hospital-visitation

To learn more about human rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues, go to:  http://www.socialworkers.org/practice/intl/issues/gender.asp#rights

Last evening, April 15, 2010, President Obama signed into law the “Continuing Extension Act of 2010.”  The new law extends through May 31, 2010 the zero percent update to the Medicare “Physician” Fee Schedule (MPFS) which was in effect for claims with dates of service from Jan. 1, 2010, through March 31, 2010. The new law is retroactive to April 1, 2010 and will remain in force until the end of May. Without this new stopgap measure, physicians, clinical social workers and other health professionals that bill Medicare Part B independently faced a scheduled rate cut of 21 percent on claims for service delivered after April 1.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has instructed Medicare contractors to immediately resume processing claims under the new law for services provided by physicians, and non-physician practitioners (NPPs) such as clinical social workers, who are paid under the MPFS. Most claims with dates of service April 1 and later were held by Medicare in anticipation of yesterday’s congressional action. If Congress had not acted, payment rates for claims occurring after April 1, by practitioners who are paid under the MPFS would have been reduced by 21 percent, as required by a formula specified in the Medicare law.

The Medicare MPFS cut was originally scheduled to go into effect for claims paid on or after Jan. 1, 2010, but it was first postponed until March 1 by a provision in the Defense Appropriations Act of 2009, and again until April 1, in the Temporary Extenders Act of 2010. This latest Act extends last year’s payment levels until the end of next month, May 31, at which time Congress plans to again have reached agreement on a longer-term formula solution. For background information on this matter, please see NASW’s website here.

To join the Advocacy listerv, go here.

For more information on Practice, go here.

For more information on Specialty Practice Sections, go here.

For more information on Credentialing, go here.

For information from the NASW Press, go here.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)  is hosting another program in their webchat series on health insurance reform. Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Reform will join Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for a discussion on how the new Affordable Care Act will impact you.  Questions addressed will include information about Medicare Part D and the doughnut hole; obtaining affordable health care coverage for young adults and children under age 26; and affordable health care options for people with pre-existing conditions.

Join the conversation at 4 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 15^th at http://www.hhs.gov/live.

Send your questions today to Healthreform@hhs.gov. HHS will also take questions live via Twitter during the webchat.  You can find them on Twitter at @HHSGov.

HHS will answer as many questions as they can during the webchat and will answer more on the “Your Questions Answered” section of our website, Healthreform.gov.