Social workers can take on greater leadership roles in the reform of Medicaid, which covers 73 million Americans. In order for them to do so, we must be able to articulate what social workers can contribute to Medicaid reform at all levels.
Through a group of semistructured interviews with 46 stakeholders from different states across the country, researchers analyzed a range of Medicaid reform approaches and how social workers fit into these models. The study notes that while social workers have valuable skills that could help in building health systems that promote population health, they are a typically under-used resource at the systems level.
Contributions from social workers can include identifying gaps in service delivery and value.