California Fights Discrimination September 12, 2003
Communities in Action Over 50 years ago, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners wrote a model law adopted by California and 40 other states that protects insurers from liability for losses sustained by individuals who are under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. This law, called the Uniform Accident and Sickness Policy Provision Law (UPPL), discourages emergency and trauma physicians from screening for alcohol or other drugs.Recently, California State Senator Gloria Romero introduced a bill to repeal that state's law, coupled with a nickel per drink wholesale alcohol tax, with the funds going toward reducing the burden of alcohol on emergency medical services and trauma.
Dr. Larry Gentilello, a trauma professor and physician at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, recently gave testimony to the Senate in Sacramento. "The bill has made it through two committees, and has a very good chance at passage," said Gentilello.
According to Gentilello, Washington State Representative Dennis Flannigan plans introduce the same bill repeal in January. For the past three years, Gentilello has been urging insurers, regulators, and state lawmakers to revoke the laws and include drug testing and counseling as part of routine trauma care.
Repealing the UPPL in every state is one of the 10 recommendations made by Join Together's national policy panel on ending discrimination against people with alcohol and other drug problems.
Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Diego are all Demand Treatment! Partner communities.
