Health Practice Tools

This flyer outlines NASW offerings on health care topics, including advocacy, NASW Press, NASW Foundation, specialty practice sections and more.

These reports examine issues related to the work of social workers, including how to serve people who have complex needs and how public agencies and other organizations deliver health and human services.

NASW has supported the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which has extended health insurance for 20 million Americans.  As the incoming Trump administration has promised constituents, changes to health care are likely in the upcoming year.  Antidiscrimination provisions in the ACA that have been enacted to protect those with chronic conditions, women and individuals with mental health and substance use disorders, are at risk.

Since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted, remarkable gains have been made in the number of people in the United States with health insurance coverage. The ACA has encouraged the development of new health care models, greater access to behavioral health and medical services, and more consistent access to health care for vulnerable populations than ever before. Awareness of these trends can enhance the critical role that social workers serve in connecting clients to appropriate health care resources and increasing health literacy.

Over the last year or more, the cover of nearly every magazine, newspaper and electronic news media outlets, headlines have chronicled the fact that United States is in the midst of an opioid and heroin epidemic. While addiction to and abuse of prescription pain medications or to illicit drugs such as heroin is not new, the dimensions and complexities of this epidemic startled and alarmed most public health and addictions experts.

Four years after its passage, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has become a key component of the nation’s safety net. With all major provisions now in effect, the ACA is having a demonstrable impact on the lives of millions of Americans, particularly the populations served by social workers. The law is bringing health care services to many people with no previous attachment to the health care system. It has made prevention and wellness a national priority, and has ushered in a new era of coordinated care for those with chronic illness. It is also providing vital protection against the devastating financial effects of illness and its consequences. Some of the law’s major achievements to date are documented below.