MHA Conference 2011 Presentations: Health Care Reform Track
Health Reform 101
The Affordable Care Act, passed in March 2010, will expand coverage to 32 million Americans. This session covered how the law will greatly expand coverage, including access to mental health and substance use services.
| Health Reform 101 |
| John O'Brien |
| Senior Advisor to the Administrator on Health Care Reform |
| Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) |
State Exchanges – What You Need to Know
As part of the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansion, each state will be required to establish a state exchange through which individuals and small businesses can purchase coverage with pooled risk and thus lower premiums. This session presented up-to-date guidance on state exchanges, including important information mental health and substance use advocates need to know to be involved with the establishment of exchanges in their state.
Medicaid Expansion, Digging In
A large portion of the individuals receiving coverage under the Affordable Care Act will enter a new population of Medicaid recipients. This session addressed how that expansion will affect states, providers, and consumers, and what the mental health and substance use community needs to be doing to ensure proper implementation. A focus of this session was Medicaid managed care and how advocates can participate in contracting in their states.
Advocacy Strategies
This session discussed ways advocates can be involved in health reform implementation in their states. Topics included strategies to engage in managed care contracting, specific issues to consider related to behavioral health care organizations in Medicaid populations, and engaging with key players with the goal of moving health reform implementation forward at the state level.
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