Oral

This joint session, sponsored by the APHA Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs and Mental Health sections, provides a timely and practical overview of the requirements and opportunities offered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Health care reforms in the ACA will dramatically expand Medicaid enrollment and promises to significantly reduce treatment gaps for people in need of primary care, mental health and substance use services. Succeeding in this new healthcare environment requires behavioral health and primary care organizations to work closely together. Proactive collaboration is needed to create new policies, new service delivery designs and new operational infrastructure. In this session, national, state and local leaders will share their knowledge and answer your questions about the “building blocks” of the ACA - including new opportunities and challenges for the integration of substance use with mental health services and ways to collaborate with primary care. This session will offer information, strategic insight and resources critical to understanding how to leverage ACA resources locally and how/when to participate in state implementation.

Session Objectives: 1. Identify Affordable Care Act (ACA) components that impact the local integration of mental health services and substance use treatment with primary care under the Medicaid Expansion: Health Insurance Exchanges; essential health benefits; accountable care organizations; health home option. 2. Describe the critical collaborations and policy infrastructure that States are building to establish eligibility for services, financing of ‘specialty care,’ and technical assistance for local implementation of the ACA. Identify and understand the opportunities and challenges that Health Care Reform brings to the mental health and substance use provider communities. 3. Identify the practical challenges and opportunities of local ACA implementation, including: managing organizational change; building relationships between specialty mental health, substance use providers, primary care homes and health care systems; new demands for workforce development; developing administrative capacity required for primary care contracts; expanding access to substance use and mental health services; data sharing across systems; maintaining consumer/family/peer involvement in services; helping clients understand enrollment and benefits. 4. Identify websites and other resources offering timely and critical information about health care reform. Find out how your state is implementing the ACA- use this link, scroll to the bottom of the webpage, and click on the map of the United States: http://www.nasuad.org/medicaid_reform_tracker.html For examples of different ways to integrate services, use this link: http://www.integration.samhsa.gov/integrated-care-models 5. Identify critical areas of ACA implementation where APHA member advocacy is needed.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)