The Affordable Care Act: New Opportunities for Social Work to Take Leadership in Behavioral Health and Addiction Treatment

Abstract

An estimated 23 million individuals in the United States meet criteria for a diagnosis of substance abuse or dependence; however, only about 4 million people enter treatment each year. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is likely to increase access to addiction treatment through the integration of behavioral health and health care services. However, this integration effort is at risk of excluding the most vulnerable population groups with substance use disorders. Further, key health and government agencies report an urgent need for more health professionals to be trained in empirically supported methods for screening and treating patients for abuse and dependence of alcohol and other drugs. The implementation of an integrated care model is threatened by the shortage of social workers who are sufficiently trained in these methods. This article argues that in this era of implementing the ACA, it is key that social workers not only become leaders in the addiction health services research field but also translate their knowledge to social work practice. Further, the article presents research on the Swedish addiction treatment system as a model of an alternative system in which social workers fill a central role in implementing a coordinated care model.