July Policy & Advocacy Update: BCBSM, Licensure Reform, New Clinical Exam & More

BCBSM Policy Update
Advocacy Action Steps

Take action to oppose Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's (BCBSM) proposed incident-to billing policy changes! Together, we can protect Michigan's behavioral health workforce, support private practices, and preserve access to care for the patients who rely on them.

Take Action NOW: bit.ly/OpposeBCBSMPolicy

• Ready-to-send email templates

• Provider and client surveys

• Legislative one-pager

• Client notice with call script 

• Summarized issue and impacts

• Our list of demands

Sign up for one or more 

Advocacy Shifts (Calls & Emails) : linktr.ee/ProtectPrivatePractice

Help us contact legislators and BCBSM leadership so that they hear from our movement DAILY!

Help Shape a NEW Social Work Licensure Exam
Work is underway to develop an exam that measures entry-level clinical social work competence, with the intent that it will be recognized as an alternative to the current ASWB exam for clinical social work licensure in Michigan.

NASW-Michigan is part of the statewide coalition developing the exam, alongside the Michigan Association of Deans & Directors of Graduate Schools of Social Work and the Community Mental Health Association of Michigan, with funding from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.

Faculty at the Wayne State University School of Social Work are taking the lead on exam development, along with Dr. Jennifer Randall at the University of Michigan, who is guiding exam development as lead psychometrician.

Where the project stands

The exam will be organized around three core competencies of clinical practice: engagement, assessment, and intervention. This spring, an expert panel of Michigan clinicians and social work faculty developed lists of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to practice safely and ethically within each competency. These lists define what the exam will measure and every exam question will be tied to them. Before item writing begins, the broader social work community has an opportunity to weigh in.

Two ways you can support this work

• Offer public comment. Look over the finalized lists and let us know if anything essential is missing or needs major correction, including wording that could be harmful or problematic. Both quick scans and close reads are welcome. The review is open to Michigan social workers with a limited license (LLMSW) or full clinical license (LMSW-Clinical), and to social work faculty with clinical expertise.

You can review and comment, and/or indicate your willingness to serve as an item writer, by clicking here for the survey link . Public comment will be open through July 31, 2026.

Reviewers give their name, and licensed reviewers their license number, so eligibility can be verified; responses are confidential and reported only in aggregate.

Questions and comments can be directed to Dr. Bryan Victor (bvictor@wayne.edu) and Dr. Shantalea Johns ( shantalea@wayne.edu) at the Wayne State University School of Social Work, who are serving as the leads on exam development.

Michigan Legislative Updates

What’s going on with the budget?

Following weeks of negotiations and a nearly 24-hour legislative session, lawmakers gave final approval to the fiscal year 2026-27 budget. They also passed more than 60 bills during the overnight session. Read more here. 

So, what do we do now?

Summer is an excellent time to connect with your elected officials. We encourage members to attend local coffee hours, schedule in-district meetings, and continue responding to our advocacy alerts. Building relationships now helps ensure our issues remain top of mind when committee work resumes in the fall.

Licensure Reform Update

Although committee activity has slowed for the summer, NASW-Michigan continues meeting with legislators, committee members, and coalition partners to build support for our licensure reform package. We're using the summer months to educate lawmakers, answer questions, and position these bills for movement when committee work resumes.

If you haven't already, please take a few minutes to respond to our action alerts and encourage your colleagues to do the same. Demonstrating broad support from social workers, students, educators, employers, and community members helps keep these bills top of mind with legislators.

Thank you to everyone who has already taken action. Every email, phone call, and legislative meeting helps move these bills forward.