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Implementation Webinars | Coalition for Whole Health | National Advocacy Campaign
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The passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 represented a huge victory in our advocacy efforts, with a ground-breaking expansion of addiction and mental health coverage of prevention, treatment and recovery.
Now, LAC's efforts are focused on strong implementation of the new law, and the critical need to protect and expand funding for substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery services in a tough budgetary environment. |
Expansion of Coverage
The Affordable Care Act, passed in March 2010:
- Includes substance use disorder and mental health (SUD/MH) services as required benefits in the basic benefit package for individual and small business health plans.
- Requires that all plans in the health insurance exchange comply with the Wellstone/Domenici Parity Act in providing SUD/MH benefits in the same way as all other covered medical and surgical benefits.
- Expands Medicaid eligibility for all Americans up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level and require newly eligible parents and childless adults receive coverage that includes SUD/MH services provided at parity.
- Includes SUD and MH prevention strategies and efforts in the bill’s chronic disease initiatives.
- Includes the capacity of the mental and behavioral health workforce as high-priority topics in the bill’s National Workforce Strategy section.
- Includes insurance reforms and consumer protections critical for individuals seeking or in recovery, including prohibiting insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, charging higher premiums based on health status, and placing annual or lifetime caps on insurance coverage.
Click here for Coalition for Whole Health documents from the legislative process.
Updates/Implementation
Webinars
Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and its
In June 2010, the Coalition for Whole Health and the Whole Health Campaign -- two groups originally formed to advocate for strong addiction coverage in the healthcare reform legislation -- unanimously agreed to merge under the Coalition for Whole Health name. Now, the coalition is jointly led by LAC's Paul Samuels and Ron Manderscheid of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors.
This new group gives the mental health and addiction fields the strongest possible advocacy to maximize inclusion and coverage of mental health and substance use disorder prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and recovery in the implementation of health care reform.
Please visit our website to see all our activities.
The National Advocacy Campaign, our joint initiative with the State Associations of Addiction Services (SAAS), works toward policies that will dramatically alter the national landscape so that fewer people suffer from alcohol and drug problems, the addicted receive the care they need, and people in recovery can live healthy and productive lives.
Our recent newsletters:
For earlier updates, see our newsletter archive.
Join the Campaign!
These advocacy efforts are just the beginning. As a friend of the substance use disorder field and as someone who believes in the power of advocacy and the reality of recovery, we know that you will find the National Advocacy Campaign for Smarter and More Effective Drug and Alcohol Policies as exciting as we do. In order to make the work of the campaign possible, please consider joining the effort to change alcohol and drug policies. Become a member by making a secure online contribution today (select "National Advocacy Campaign" from the drop-down box). Thank you for your support!