Update on Legislative Activity

It is with great pleasure that the NJSCSW board has hired a new lobbyist to advocate with the ever-changing legislation needs of our members and the community we serve. We realize that with COVID-19 and the reality that some of us might never return to face to face practice, that we need more than ever, to keep up with legislative changes that affect us. We have been vigilant in our efforts to ensure confidentiality for our patients and have fought the insurance companies that have threatened our integrity, reimbursements and the foundation on which we practice. For the past several years some of our members and patients have testified before the senate and the assembly to get the confidentiality legislation passed. In June 2022, the Confidentiality Bill (A3514) passed the full Senate and is presently in the Financial Institution Committee of the Assembly. NJSCSW's lobbyist is working to get a final hearing on the bill. If this bill passes we will no longer be at the mercy of insurer's requests, when they ask for more than we are legally allowed to provide regarding our clients. 

It is important to fight the never ending legislative battle to maintain the values and integrity of our profession. Our voices must be heard!

Please call your NJ legislators to support (A3514).

Below are links to contact your NJ State and Federal Legislators:

Legislative Committee

The Legislative Committee serves multiple purposes. We review Bills that are introduced into the House and Senate, and provide feedback to our lobbyist in Washington, DC and/or representatives at the state level.

Members are kept informed about important legislative matters through our Newsletter and the NJSCSW email listserv. We encourage our members to contact their Senators and Congressmen about legislative matters that affect clinical social workers. When necessary, this committee will testify on behalf of our profession at the State House in Trenton, as it has in the past to pass the loss/ratio legislation S-1993. The committee, along with Jim Wrich, has written, testified and insured that the legislation passed requires managed care companies to disclose their profits according to the state's definitions of profits and losses; not the managed care companies’ definitions.

We are also instrumental in helping members address problems with insurance companies. The committee welcomes new members’ interest and time. For further information, please email the committee chair, Luba Shagawat, LCSW at Luba11@aol.com.

Current Legislative Agenda

Luba Shagawat, Director of Legislative Affairs.

In addition to the Confidentiality Legislation stated above, there are a number of other legislative initiatives that NJSCSW is currently lobbying for. Please click here to see the current legislative agenda.