The Beginning of a New Decade: Social Work 2010

It is the beginning of a new year. As a profession, social work is facing many challenging issues. Although the myriad of concerns confronting us in 2010 are not new, the goal of finding solutions may be more attainable than in previous years. During this decade, we will experience the challenges of living in a world where a global, multicultural perspective is a prerequisite for solving problems. From the economy to foreign affairs, the impact of change is having a ripple effect throughout the world, and many of those individuals, families, and communities most affected by change will be the clients we serve as social workers. Nowhere is the impact of change more evident than in the current debate on health care reform. At the time of this writing, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate continue to debate health care legislation. According to Dr. King Davis, professor and Robert Lee Southerland Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy at the University of Texas at Austin, Social workers have petitioned every presidential administration from Roosevelt to Obama in an effort to inch this nation towards a national health care policy that recognizes health as a human right that also ensures the health of the economy and society as a whole. (personal communication with K. Davis, Austin, TX, October 10, 2009) One critical addition to this legislation has been the recognition that addiction and mental health insurance must be included in any reform package. Mental health parity is an essential component to any health care reform legislation. However, even with these crucial changes, "one must wonder aloud how a democratic nation of such wealth could for so long deny its neediest citizens the right to a healthy life so eloquently guaranteed in its own constitutional principles and ethos" (personal communication with K. Davis, Austin, TX, October 10, 2009). The current health care reform proposal (H.R. 3200) addresses benefits for fragile children, high-risk pregnant women, nursing home residents, uninsured children and families, people with chronic illnesses, Medicaid- and Medicare-eligible patients, and other underserved groups. The most recent version includes a public insurance option. NASW has advocated for the inclusion of direct billing coverage for clinical social workers serving Medicare nursing home residents as well as other components of the proposal that would affect our profession. A final version of H.R. 3200 will be considered by the House of Representatives in the near future. In a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey of 1,203 randomly sampled adults over 18 years of age, 68 percent stated that they would support new health care reform legislation if it provides necessary health care coverage for people who need it but cannot afford it. Another 65 percent of the sample stated they would support a proposal that provides equal health care benefits to people with a history of illness as well as healthy people. Seventy-seven percent of the adults sampled stated they would support a proposal that provides health care coverage for children and grandchildren. In the same survey, 33 percent of respondents stated that they or someone they knew had difficulty paying for health care during the past year, and 56 percent of Americans have delayed accessing health care during the past year due to financial reasons. From these results, it appears that there is growing public support for health care reform as the House and Senate continue to debate the issue (see http://www.kff. org/kaiserpolls/posr092909pkg.cfm/). Although health care reform is one of the more prominent matters currently demanding public attention, of equivalent significance are other challenges facing us as a nation and global partner. In this issue, many of the critical topics of this decade are discussed. Social workers hold strategic positions in making a difference in the lives of vulnerable and marginalized populations with whom they work. …