Gaps and barriers in drug and alcohol treatment following implementation of the affordable care act

Abstract We assessed impact of affordable care act on drug or alcohol treatment gap. Used 10 years of large national dataset: pre- (2009–2013) and post-ACA (2015–2019). No significant difference in prevalence of treatment gap after ACA implementation. Stigma about treatment, access-related barriers significantly increased post-ACA. Financial reforms are necessary but not sufficient alone to reduce treatment gap. Article type: Research Article Keywords: Affordable care act, Substance use disorder, Substance abuse treatment, Barriers, Low-income Authors: Catherine Tomko, Mark Olfson, Ramin Mojtabai