Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2023: Beneficiary-Oriented Updates for Social Workers
Social workers are trusted sources of information for Medicare beneficiaries and play an integral role in helping clients access health care services. Consequently, an understanding of Medicare payment policies enables social workers to serve beneficiaries more effectively.
NASW has created a Tips & Tools for Social Workers with information about the provisions within the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule for 2023 that are most pertinent to social workers who serve Medicare beneficiaries in roles other than mental health and substance use disorder services.
This is the third Tips & Tools issued by the NASW Practice team. Tips & Tools for Social Workers is a new resource to help NASW members stay abreast of current updates and trends in social work practice. Members will also learn how NASW is advocating for them in the practice community. Additional resources will be added throughout the year.
Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Virtual Symposium Takes Place in May
Social workers are invited to participate in the 6th annual Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium on May 11. This virtual event is free and includes a full day of sessions on how to meet the mental health and substance use needs of older adults. CEUs are provided at no additional charge in partnership with the Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Disparities in Aging at Rush University.
The event is hosted by the National Council on Aging and co-sponsored by the Administration for Community Living, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. NASW Senior Practice Associate Chris Herman is serving on the symposium steering committee.
Learn more about the symposium and register.
Updates Available for Quality Payment Program
A new Tips & Tools for Social Workers, CMS 2023 Quality Payment Program for Clinical Social Workers, is available now.
This resource provides updates that are pertinent to clinical social workers.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced updates to the Quality Payment Program, which can be found in the 2023 Physician Fee Schedule and the QPP Resource Library.
Planning for Medicaid Unwinding in 2023
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services first declared a 90-day public health emergency (PHE). The PHE declaration allowed flexibility in health care funding and regulations to respond to the pandemic.
Since January 2020, the PHE has been renewed 11 times and was in effect through mid-January 2023. An NASW blog post, Planning for Medicaid Unwinding in 2023, notes that when the COVID-19 PHE ends, which is expected this year, state agencies will begin the “unwinding” of continuous Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by going through the redetermination process for all enrollees.
Up to 15 million people may be at risk of losing health insurance coverage.