Why Is Drug Rehab Insurance Coverage Part of Mental Health Bill?

Alcohol or drug abuse affects 25 million Americans; only four million get treatment The need in this country for increased insurance coverage for alcohol and drug addiction treatment is indisputable. Drug rehab and drug detox have little or no recognition among health insurers, yet drug addiction is a major cause of ruined lives, family violence, emergency room visits, and death. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, alcohol and drug addiction also cost America $77 billion each year in lost productivity. Clearly something needs to be done to make it easier for addicts to get alcohol and drug rehab. But the question that leaps out when one reads the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act, H.R. 1402, is this: is substance abuse and addiction “me View the rest of this article