Health Care Reform Resources (updated 2/15)

Are you ready for Health Care Reform (Affordable Care Act) and what it will mean for your community? To learn about Health Care Reform and its implications for diverse communities as well as for mental health and substance abuse services, check out these resources. 

 

General Information:

• The Kaiser Family Foundation has released a ten minute video that explains the Affordable Care Act in accessible language. The video titled Health Reform Hits Main Street explains the problems with the current health care system, the changes that are happening now, and the big changes coming in 2014. Watch the video in Spanish.
• The Commonwealth Fund's Health Reform Resource Center allows users to view a timeline of the law's major provisions and search for clear, detailed summaries of specific provisions by year, category, and/or stakeholder group.
• HealthCare.gov is the government's website for the Affordable Care Act. It allows users to search for health insurance plans, compare hospitals, learn about prevention includes information on the new health care legislation and grant opportunities. The website will be available in Spanish in mid to late August.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Reform GPS provides general information on issues related to implementation of the legislation.
• Families USA Health Reform Central provides up-to-date information on what's happening in Health Care Reform, including resources for minority communities (see list below).
• Kaiser Family Foundation Health Reform Source provides general information and resources on Health Care Reform.  It includes an implementation timeline.

Behavioral Health:

• The Government Accountability Office released the first of two reports mandated by Congress on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act entitiled Mental Health and Substance Use: Employers’ Insurance Coverage Maintained or Enhanced Since Parity Act, but Effect of Coverage on Enrollees Varied.
• The fact sheet entitled, The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the Affordable Care Act: Implications for Coverage of Tobacco Cessation Benefits (MHPAEA), is designed to answer some frequently asked questions about MHPAEA and how it is affected by it's extension in the Affordable Care Act.
• Health Care Reform FAQ's on the impact of Health Care Reform on services and supports for young adults with serious mental health conditions.
• Mental Health America has released the recording of it's July webinar, Parity and Health Care Reform: Important Changes for Behavioral Health.
• National Council for Community Behavioral Health's Health Care Reform Blog provides information specific to substance abuse and behavioral health and health care reform legislation and funding.
• National Council for Community Behavioral Health's quarterly magazine released this July focuses exclusively on national healthcare reform impact mental health and addiction services: "Healthcare Reform - Mental Health and Addiction Services"

Minority Communities & Eliminating Disparities:

•  The HHS Office of Health Reform provides an updated fact sheet that answers the question How Does the Affordable Care Act Help People Living with HIV/AIDS?
• A new report titled Toward Meeting the Needs of Vulnerable Populations: Issues for Policymakers’ Consideration in Integrating a Safety Net into Health Care Reform Implementation discusses the implications and potential outcomes for vulnerable populations.
• Coverage Gains for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Children Under Health Care Reform a factsheet by the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum explains how Health Care Reform will provide coverage to countless uninsured and underinsured Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander children.
• A new issue brief entitled Covering Children under the Affordable Care Act: Minding the Gaps discusses the implications for children living in nontraditional families that potentially create barriers to accessing health coverage, these include, but are not limited to - children living with noncustodial guardians/grandparents, citizen children with noncitizen parents, children whose parents live apart, children of veterans, children of incarcerated parents, and homeless & institutionalized children.
• Actualizing Health Care Reform for Urban Indians is a report based on the Urban Indian Health Summit discussions that outlines strategies to ensure the success of reform for urban Indians. The report highlights areas where federal partnership will be essential, such as workforce development and understanding the value of the Federally Qualified Health Center designation. 
• The Center for American Progress produced the report, What Health Care Reform Means for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Americans to explain how the new health law already affects the LGBT community, and how they and their allies can continue to advocate for broad inclusion as the law is fully implemented between now and 2014.
• Affordable Care Act, What’s in it? Rural Young Adults is a report that examines how the Affordable Care Act benefits young adults and, consequently, the rural places they call home.
• Measuring the Gaps: Collecting Data to Drive Improvements in Health Care Disparities from the Center for American Progress highlights the new provisions within the ACA that require the collection and analysis of data on racial and ethnic health care disparities and the importance of health care provider involvement in collecting data on racial and ethnic health care disparities.
• This short paper titled The ACA and Substance Use Disorders (pdf) from the National Health Law Program outlines the provisions that are likely to improve access to programs and services to prevent and treat substance use disorders.
• This short paper titled The ACA and Language Access (pdf) from the National Health Law Program discusses some of the major provisions addressing language access that were included in the ACA.
• The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation commissioned a guidebook to the Affordable Care Act, Understading Health Reform: A Community Guide for African Americans, to help consumers, providers, researchers, policymakers, and others better understand the new law—the benefits available to them and its potential for strengthening the healthcare system.
• The National Conference of State Legislatures has produced an issue brief that outlines provisions in the Affordable Care Act that address disparities: Health Disparities and the Affordable Care Act. Addtionally, they have produced profiles of state Minority Health and Health Equity offices that include the state's plan for addressing health disparities: State Profiles: Minority Health and Health Equity Offices.
• The White House developed a video and a blog, both titled What Health Reform Means for African Americans, to illustrate how heath reform directly benefits African Americans. 
• The White House created a video Health Reform for Latinos, in which the Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, discusses how the Affordable Care Act will benefit Latinos, the video is also available in Spanish.
• Families USA has released its final set of state fact sheets titled How Health Reform Helps Communities of Color. These state fact sheets discuss how provisions in the Affordable Care Act—both those for the general public and those specifically designed to eliminate health disparities—help communities of color.
• Kaiser Family Foundation issue brief - Health Reform And Communities Of Color: Implications For Racial And Ethnic Health Disparities.
• Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies report - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: Advancing Health Equity for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Populations
• Asian & Pacific Island American Health Forum, Health Care Reform Resource Center provides information and resources onhealth care reform legislation relates to the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. Translations of their document Health Care Reform FAQs have been added to their website.
• 16th Annual Summer Public Health Research Institute and Videoconference on Minority Health: "What Will Health Care Reform Mean for Minority Health Disparities?"
• Families USA Fact Sheets that highlight how the new health reform law will help America's communities of color by expanding coverage, increasing funding for  community health centers, and providing grants for workforce diversity. By population: African Americans  l  American Indians and Native Alaskans  l  Asian Americans  l  Latinos  l  Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders
• Families USA PowerPoint presentation "Health Reform: Laying the Foundation for Equity" that provides an overview of some the provisions in the new law that will help close the gap, including prevention and public health, coverage expansions, and initiatives that specifically address health care disparities. The notes section includes a script that has a more in-depth discussion of each topic.
• Families USA Issue Brief "Moving toward Health Equity: Health Reform Creates a Foundation for Eliminating Disparities" that summarizes provisions that will expand access to care through Medicaid and community health centers and those that will address health disparities by promoting language access, increasing workforce diversity, and reauthorizing the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.
• Families USA Issue Brief "Health Reform: Help for American Indians and Alaska Natives" that discusses changes made by the new health reform law, including the overdue reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, and explains how these changes will benefit these two groups.
• Premier Healthcare Alliance chart that describes provisions in Health Care Reform related to the elimination of disparities and includes a section on funding levels and the expected dates for implementation of provisions focusing on the elimination of disparities.
• Premier Healthcare Alliance chart that describes each provision in Health Care Reform related to the elimination of disparities and includes a section on funding levels and the expected dates for implementation of these provisions.

 

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