Policy and practice: A primer on the past, present, and future of healthcare reform in the United States

Abstract

Traditionally, training in family therapy master's programs has focused on preparing future therapists to serve individuals, couples, and families. Students that graduate from clinical programs commonly go to work in community behavioral health or private practice settings that function in a fee-for-service manner. Unfortunately, most training programs seldom include business or public policy perspectives of clinical work. Students frequently enter the professional world unaware of macro-level influences of health care systems, such as the broader political and economic context of behavioral health care. As more relational therapists identify as medical family therapists (MedFTs) and go to work in healthcare settings that are being radically changed by new healthcare policies, they can no longer focus exclusively on microlevel, face-to-face interventions with their patients. Instead, MedFTs must be aware of the broader influences that both expand and limit opportunities for individual therapists and their patients. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a primer on healthcare policy for MedFTs and to describe current and proposed changes that will revolutionize the delivery of healthcare services to families in the United States.