This book provides a scholarly discussion of arguably the most important advance in U.S. public health services since Medicare 50 years ago - how the Federal program known as the Patient Care and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) or "Obamacare" became law. It addresses ACA in terms of its impact on improving health and behavioural health services for key diverse populations in America, including people with disabilities, consumers, women, racial and ethnic minorities, and veterans and their families. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Social Work in Disability & Rehabilitation.

Preface: Affordable Care Act: A comprehensive and integrated approach to health care Ford Kuramoto and Francis Yuen 1. Full Immersion in the Mainstream: How Years of Promise for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Came to Fruition with the ACA William Emmet, Oscar Morgan and Judy Stange 2. Lessons Learned from a Maryland Citizen's Advocacy Group's Experience in Impacting Health Reform: The Seven C's of Effective Citizen Advocacy Adrienne Ellis and Linda Raines 3. Behavioral Health Parity and the Affordable Care Act Richard Frank, Kirsten Beronio and Sherry Glied 4. Affordable Care Act and Integrated Care Ford Kuramoto 5. The Affordable Care Act: Overview and Implications for County and City Behavioral Health and Intellectual/Developmental Disability Programs Ron Manderscheid 6. State Olmstead Litigation and the ACA Terence Ng, Charlene Harrington and Alice Wong 7. The Affordable Care Act for Behavioral Health Consumers and Families Ted Johnson, David Sanders and Judy Stange 8. Women's Health and Behavioral Health Issues in Health Care Reform Jean Lau Chin, Barbara Yee and Martha Banks 9. The Implications of the Affordable Care Act on the Health and Behavioral Health of Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities Oscar Morgan, Ford Kuramoto, William Emmet, Judy Stange and Eric Nobunaga 10. Overview of the Affordable Care Act's Impact on Military and Veteran Mental Health Services: Nine Implications for Significant Improvements in Care Charles Figley and Mark Russell