A client in treatment with a social worker has made substantial progress. She loses her job and no longer has insurance that will pay for services. Both the social worker and the client think that continued treatment would be beneficial. In order to assist the client in an ethical manner, the social worker should:

Social workers can only bill insurance companies for services performed when the client is covered. It would be unethical to fraudulently bill for services that happened during the period when she did not have insurance. Since these claims will not be paid, the client is being misled into thinking that she will not be responsible for the cost of treatment. Thus, the first response choice is clearly unethical. Social workers are only allowed to barter under VERY limited circumstances. The content in this case vignette does not justify the use of bartering or exchanging services for treatment. Terminating services also does not assist the client. The response choice that assists “the client in an ethical manner” is the one that arranges to see the client for a sliding scale or pro bono.