60th Annual Meeting

October 19 - 27, 2013

Other Programs (open to all AACAP members)

Town Meeting: How the Affordable Care Act Will Affect You and Your Patients

The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) brought with it the potential to radically alter the delivery of healthcare within the United States. The ACA was signed into law within two years of the passage of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. Together, these Acts lay the groundwork for dramatic improvements in the historically inadequate delivery of mental health services to children and adolescents. The implementation of the ACA will change the way mental health care is structured, delivered, evaluated, and reimbursed. It is in the best interests of CAPs to learn about this process and be proactive.

 

This Town Meeting will review of the key components of the law, including what accountable care organizations (ACO) and pediatric medical homes represent for child and adolescent psychiatry. The potential challenges and opportunities the new law presents for child psychiatrists in all practice settings will be discussed as well as what the ACA means for mental health parity. There will be a panel representing members who working in various clinical settings (academic, ACO, private practice and community-centers) discussing how the law is currently affecting them and how they think it will affect care in the future.