Health Practice Tools

NASW Task Force for Serious Illness: Palliative and End of Life Care is please to announce the attached draft practice standards for public comment, Serious Illness: Palliative and End of Life Care. The draft standards offer guidance to social workers in all settings where palliative and end of life services occur. They offer guidance to social workers and serve as benchmark for services social workers provide. We value your input and encourage you to review the document.

Currently, most of the Medicare waivers that were developed during the COVID-19 pandemic are scheduled to end on March 31, 2025. This includes the geographic and origination site restrictions and the in-person requirements for telehealth services. Unless Congress passes legislation to extend the waivers, clinical social workers and other Medicare providers may be required to adhere to pre-COVID Medicare reimbursement guidelines. This may significantly impact clinical social workers and other providers who have closed their in-person offices and developed telehealth practices.

In late 2024 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). This 1,348-page rule updates policies and payments for clinical social workers (CSWs) and other Medicare providers; these changes, in turn, affect health coverage for beneficiaries. Changes related to payments and other Medicare Part B policies addressed in the PFS take effect on or after January 1, 2025.

As youth age into adulthood, they typically transition from pediatric medical services to adult providers when they are between 18 and 24 years old. Social workers should be aware of the evidence base around health care transitions for youth, and in pediatric settings, social workers can lead the process to help youth and their families prepare for their transition to adult care.

Social workers can support consumers to secure health insurance coverage now through January 15, 2025. 

The 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule details services that social workers can provide to address health-related needs for Medicare Part B beneficiaries. This resource describes Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Risk Assessment, Community Health Integration (CHI) Services, and Principal Illness Navigation (PIN) Services. It clarifies the role of social workers in delivering these services to support patients with medical and social needs.