We’re grateful to everyone who has taken part in charting our course with regards to regulation of clinical practice, including the Clinical Committee, NSCSW members who participated in our consultations and general meeting, and the NSCSW Council and staff.
There’s still a great deal of work to be done, and we have a project plan ready for our members to review, so you can see what steps we’re planning to take and how we expect the three phases of this process will fit together.
We welcome your feedback as we continue on this path. Comments and questions for the clinical committee can be sent to nscsw@nscsw.org. Please include “For Clinical Committee” in the subject line.
This inquiry may not be appropriate to this project plan, however, had been on the radar of the Private Practice Committee previously, that of advocacy to private health insurance companies such as Sunlife who provide health insurance to federal government employees and still do not recognize coverage for Social Workers. Please advise or forward this inquiry to the appropriate person(s) at the College. Thank you.
Great question Shireen! The Private Practice Committee found that insurance companies were willing to include social workers in plans, at very little additional cost, but it had to be requested by the employer; it was therefore determined that advocacy should target employers (or unions) directly, or offer people the tools to self-advocate with their employers.
In response to the increased demand and stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Public Service Health Care Plan for federal government employees in Canada temporarily extended the list of eligible mental health practitioners to include social workers, without needing a prescription. As far as I can tell this provision is still in effect; I hope that public servants will encourage for it be made permanent, and for SunLife to start to accept these claims electronically.
Quick follow-up to Shireen’s comment: there is now a tentative agreement for social work to be permanently added to the Public Service Health Care Plan for all federal employees, regardless of where they live. This agreement is the result of lengthy negotiations between multiple parties (the employer, multiple unions, and retiree representatives) to modernize their health plan, and is intended to take effect July 1, 2023, when they switch service providers from SunLife to Canada Life. The changes also include improved access to gender-affirming care, and increased annual coverage for mental health practitioners. Exciting news!