Are you paying attention to the Court debate?

 With today marking the wrapup of three days of oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on the Affordable Care Act, I’m left to wonder whether the addiction field is being vocal enough about this debate’s implications.

Granted, many field leaders maintain that the changes already enveloping the profession (more integration with primary care, expanded use of information technology, greater demands for clinical accountability and professional credentialing) will continue to dominate regardless of whether Obamacare’s individual mandate is upheld or struck down. But it appears in the early part of this week that most major organizations in the addiction field have been content to leave the policy statements and analyses to others.

Kudos, by the way, to the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, which in its daily updates this week on the Supreme Court hearings is including not only its analysis of the key arguments but also the latest interpretations of the proceedings from media observers.

How closely are you watching the legal developments with the Affordable Care Act, and what effect do you think the Supreme Court’s ruling this year will have on the evolution of addiction service delivery? Let me know what you think.