February 15, 2026

By Laura Groshong, LICSW, Director of Policy and Practice

There is a lot happening legislatively that affects LCSWs. This edition of The Aware Advocate summarizes four issues that CSWA wants members to be aware of, including one request to contact members of Congress. The issues are 1) the current status of telemental health for LCSWs; 2) the decrease in Psychology Today referrals for some LCSWs;  3) the 7 Cups lawsuit; and *4) the proposed changes to MSW degrees from “Professional” to “Graduate” with a significant limit on federal loans – REQUIRES ACTION.

Update on Medicare Telemental Health Coverage

Here we are again, having survived threats to continued coverage of Medicare telemental health treatment which were resolved in the Continuing Resolution signed on February 3. The good news is that there is a little more breathing room regarding Medicare coverage of virtual mental health treatment. The Continuing Resolution that was signed on February 3, 2026, extends coverage of virtual treatment until the end of 2027. This is an improvement over the three to six month extensions that have typically been put in place over the past two years. This decision luckily means that the in-person requirements have also been put on hold.

Psychology Today Referrals

Some of you may be aware that there has been a significant decrease for many LCSWs and other disciplines in referrals from Psychology Today. Depending on location, many LCSWs who had reliable streams of referrals from PT have seen them dwindle to less than half of what they used to have. An excellent article on this problem can be viewed at https://clearhealthcosts.com/blog/2026/01/therapist-forums-buzzing-over-drop-in-psychology-today-referrals/. There are some reports that Psychology Today is giving preference to profiles of therapists who work for third party platforms, such as Octave, Alma, Grow, or Rula. Psychology Today vigorously denies this.

7 Cups Lawsuit

A class action lawsuit has been filed against 7 Cups, the group that has listed LCSWs on their website as connected to them without permission. There are eight plaintiffs from four disciplines, including LCSWs. CSWA and the Psychotherapy Action Network (PSiAN) filed a cease-and-desist letter against them last year, which is how the firm that has filed the suit heard about CSWA. We have been in contact with the lead attorney and may participate in the case as it moves forward. It is gratifying to see CSWA’s efforts to stop 7 Cups being validated by this lawsuit. We will keep you apprised of the progress in this case.

**“Professional” to “Graduate” Rule for LCSWs**

As we have brought to your attention over the past four months, the Department of Education has decided to change the way that MSW degrees, and many other Masters programs, have begun the process of changing the degree designation from Professional to Graduate. This will significantly lower the FAFSA funding available. In spite of the outstanding testimony given by our intern, Jordyn Skahill, at a highly successful Congressional briefing last month, the Department has maintained this decision in their final rule. As an aside, CSWA is very proud of Jordyn as the only student who gave testimony at the briefing.

It is time for us to send comments on this regulation to https://www.regulations.gov/document/ED-2025-OPE-0944-0001. It is important to use your own language; any cut and paste comment will be bundled and less helpful. The points to make should be around the following issues:

- Overall impact on access to mental health services. Consider the downstream effects of these proposed changes on healthcare access, behavioral health capacity, and the broader social service infrastructure.

- Funding for MSW degrees. Changing the MSW from a Professional to a Graduate degree would significantly limit Federal funding for our degree and lead to crushing financial burden if commercial loans are needed.

- LCSWs as the largest group of mental health providers. There are over 400,000 LCSWs in the country with one of the lowest rates of complaint. Limiting access to MSW education will make it harder for patients to have access to LCSW mental health services.

Comments must be submitted by March 2, 2026. Please let me know when you have submitted your comments by emailing me at lwgroshong@clinicalsocialworkassociation.org.