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This session will utilize a multiple-presenter format of perspectives from national consumer leaders, mental health policy researchers, and local peer-run organizations to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing organizations that engage in peer support that are associated with the Affordable Care Act. The session will report results from the National Survey of Peer-Run Organizations and Consumer-Operated Services conducted in 2012, which collected data from peer-run organizations and programs nationwide. We will focus on knowledge of and opinions about how the ACA will affect financing of services and the impact of the ACA on the organization and financing of organizations that are overseen and staffed by people with lived experience of the mental health system and recovery. The first two presentations will provide a background on peer support, peer-run organizations, and the ACA; the third presentation will present results from the survey of peer-run organizations and consumer-operated services pertaining to the ACA; the fourth presentation will be from an executive director of a peer-run organization that provides direct support to people in recovery and reflect on the results of the study. The session will close with a discussion of issues in research, policy, and practice that have been highlighted by the discussants' presentations and perspectives, and how the field can move forward in taking advantage of the ACA while maintaining the strengths of peer support that are brought to the system by peer-run organizations.

Session Objectives: Discuss how the Affordable Care Act will impact peer support services. Compare perspectives from research, advocacy, and program management on the ACA .Describe data on potential impacts of ACA on peer support in mental health.