Medicaid is an insurance plan that provided access to care to 78 million people to include those with limited income, children and families, pregnant women, people with disabilities and people in long term care facilities. Medicaid has not only provided access to medical care, but it has also played a significant role in access to substance use treatment. In March 2025, Congress recommended reducing the budget to $880 billion over the next 10 years which would impact the role Medicaid plays in providing critical services to individuals with mental health and substance use conditions. This behavioral health practice tool highlights the importance of Medicaid assistance for those who are dealing with substance use disorders and why cutting Medicaid would further harm the communities in which we serve as social workers.
Happy National Women’s Health Week! Social workers can participate by making sure clients know about alcohol’s unique health risks for women, including breast cancer and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Learn more about these risks and how to talk about alcohol use with clients in this new NASW Social Work Blog post.
This Alcohol Awareness Month, social workers can dispel common myths about drinking, including the belief that there is a safe time or amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant. For a healthy pregnancy, avoiding alcohol and other substances is the safest thing to do. And if a client is drinking while pregnant, everyday counts. The sooner the drinking stops, the better for the baby. Learn more in this new NASW Social Work Blog post.
Substance use during pregnancy is common: about 1 in 7 pregnant people drink alcohol, 1 in 20 binge drink, and 4 in 10 of those who drink also use other substances, most frequently tobacco and cannabis. January is Birth Defects Awareness Month, a call to action for social workers to share a key message: for a healthy pregnancy, it is safest to avoid alcohol, smoking, and other recreational drugs.
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