The Advance Planning and Compassionate Care Act of 2009 was introduced on May 21, 2009, by West Virginia Senator John D. Rockefeller, IV. The SWHPN Executive Committee has sent a letter of endorsement to Senator Rockefeller and the bill’s cosponsors.
In the letter, SWHPN suggests wording that incorporates social workers in palliative care teams and health care providers involved in advance care planning and advance directives decisions. Specifically, SWHPN is advocating for social workers to be eligible for the professional education and reimbursement opportunities proposed in this bill.
These amendments would include social workers in the a workforce promotion program as critical providers of psychosocial supports for patients and authorize the National Center on Palliative and End-of-Life Care to promote research on psychosocial care.
SWHPN also suggests that social workers be eligible to receive reimbursement for advance care planning conversations with patients, required to receive continuing education on end-of-life care and advance care planning, and be added to the team of providers offering long-distance, or telemedicine, services for patients and communities lacking access to skilled care.
SWHPN Members can review this letter and join the discussion on the SWHPN online community.
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