clinical social work association

Dear CSWA Members,

This post is to let you know that clinical social workers will not be required to report on the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) in 2020. CSWA has checked with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to verify this. There will be no penalties and no bonuses for LCSWs through MIPS in 2020.

MIPS is the successor to the PQRS program that ended in 2016, which was cumbersome and did not always provide correct results in the penalties assessed to the LCSWs that complied with it.

Here is the rule about clinical social workers in 2020:

Are clinical social workers eligible for MIPS? Why is there a clinical social worker specialty measure set?

No. Clinical social workers continue to be excluded from MIPS in the 2020 performance period. However,we have finalized a clinical social worker measure set to help these clinicians prepare in the event that they are added to the definition of a MIPS eligible clinician through future rule making.

To review the whole final rule, click here.

Laura Groshong, LICSW, Director, Policy and Practice, Government Relations Chair