Sample letter to your Congressman Supporting HR 655

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(Date)

The Honorable_________ Congress of the United States House of Representatives/Senate Washington, DC 20515

Dear [Member of Congress]:

I am writing today as a member of the Clinical Social Work Federation and your constituent to ask you to cosponsor the Medicare Social Work Equity Act of 1999 (HR 655 in the House, soon to be introduced in the Senate). This important legislation will ensure that nursing home residents in our state and across the country will continue to have much-needed access to the mental health services provided by clinical social workers ("CSWs").

Since 1989, CSWs, psychologists and psychiatrists have billed Medicare Part B directly when providing mental health consultation services to nursing home residents. Due to an unintentional oversight in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 ("BBA"), and recent regulatory actions by the Health Care Financing Administration ("HCFA"), CSWs no longer will be allowed to bill Medicare directly for treating nursing home patients. Only psychologists and psychiatrists can continue to perform these services and bill Medicare directly. I believe that the BBA unfairly singles out CSWs and creates a limitation which will keep nursing home residents from receiving behavioral health care.

CSWs are the primary professionals delivering mental health services to nursing home residents (Mental Health, United States, 1996) and provide most of the mental health evaluation and psychotherapy services in the country today. In fact, their numbers as clinicians are twice that of psychologists and almost three times that of psychiatrists. In addition, in rural areas, CSWs are often the only mental health clinicians. They are also the most cost-effective mental health providers because they receive a smaller percentage of Medicare-established fees.

If CSWs cannot continue to provide services in nursing homes, many older adults will not receive treatment for their mental health problems. The stress of loss of loved ones, illness and/or dislocation for the elderly often leads to a variety of emotional disorders. When emotional disorders go untreated, medical illnesses often increase in severity. I believe older Americans deserve access to the care provided by mental health services as much as the rest of our citizens. They will not have them if CSWs are not available to work with them.

I ask that you sign on to HR 655 (and S.___) as a cosponsor. For more information, please have your staff contact the Congressional offices of Representative Pete Stark, Representative Jim Leach, or Senator Barbara Mikulski. You may also contact the Federation's Washington representatives, Betsey Haywood and Kirsten Snyder, at 202/429-2156.

Thank you for your consideration of this important issue. I will contact you shortly to follow up on your efforts.

Sincerely,

[Your Constituent]

• Overview of HR 655, prepared by our National Advocate Betsey Haywood.
• The full text of HR 655.
• Joint letter from CSWF President Golnar Simpson DSW, BCD and NASW President Josephine Allen, Ph.D., ACSW supporting HR 655.
• Press release from Congressman Stark's office.
  

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