Supreme Court Upholds Affortable Care Act – How Will This Affect Your Agency?

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (often referred to as ‘Obamacare’) by a 5-4 vote. The concurring opinion describes the controversial ‘individual mandate’ for purchasing health insurance as a tax rather than as the government ‘forcing’ people to purchase insurance. Additionally, the court has ruled that the Medicaid expansion as part of the Act is constitutional, but that the federal government is not able to require that states accept those funds.

So how does this affect the behavioral health and human services industry? As this piece written by Ron Manderscheid for Behavioral Health Magazine argues, Obamacare represents an increased focus on person-centered and preventative care. This means that primary care practices will have a greater incentive to work closely with community behavioral health and social services organizations, as these types of agencies have more experience with regular and proactive patient engagement.

As explained in last week’s post, this all ties into Accountable Care Organizations and health homes. Manderscheid echoes that sentiment, stating that many clients receiving public funds require social services in addition to medical care.

Ultimately, this means primary care needs to improve how their electronic health records interface with electronic health systems used in behavioral health and human services. It will be interesting to see whether this idea gains more media exposure and popularity now that the Supreme Court has made its ruling.