2005 Medicare Pay Increase for Clinical Social Workers 

January 2005 

Mirean Coleman, MSW, LICSW , CT
Senior Policy Associate
mcoleman@naswdc.org 

Effective January 1, 2005 , clinical social workers who are Medicare providers may receive a pay increase of no less than 1.5 percent according to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act. Pay increases may vary in different areas due to geographic adjustments that reflect differences in the costs to provide services. Clinical social workers in rural areas and Health Professional Shortage Areas may receive higher pay increases.

Clinical social workers may find additional information about the Medicare pay increase at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/providerupdate/whatsnew.asp