Ask Senator
Snowe to Cosponsor the Clinical Social Work Medicare Equity
Act
April 28, 2005
Action Needed
Please immediately contact Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) to
request that she join Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) in supporting
mental health services for seniors by becoming an original
cosponsor of the Clinical Social Work Medicare Equity Act (CSWMEA).
This bill is about to be reintroduced in the Senate and Senator
Snowe's support is critical for it to receive favorable support
in the Senate. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee,
Senator Snowe's support now will be critical later to obtaining
Republican support in the Committee.
Background
Seniors are not getting the mental health services they need
because clinical social workers are excluded from billing Medicare
directly for psychotherapy services rendered in skilled nursing
facilities (SNFs).
Section 4432 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, through the
creation of the Prospective Pay System (PPS) for Medicare SNFs,
revoked clinical social workers' ability to bill Medicare directly
for psychotherapy services rendered in the SNF setting. Section
4432 failed to exempt clinical social workers from the PPS,
in contrast to physicians and psychologists, who are statutorily
exempt, and thus do not face such restrictions.
The Clinical Social Work Medicare Equity Act will restore
the ability of clinical social workers to bill Medicare Part
B directly for services furnished to SNF patients nationwide.
Reps. Pete Stark (D-CA) and Jim Leach (R-IA) will reintroduce
CSWMEA in the House soon.
Contact Info and Message
Please go to NASW's website under CongressWeb to send
a message to Senator Snowe asking for support. For more
information see this link: Backgrounder .
For more information, contact Jim Finley at NASW, 202-336-8315
or jfinley@naswdc.org |
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