Under the Drug and Alcohol Addiction Recovery Act of 2001, introduced by Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) and Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), imposing discriminatory restrictions on annual or lifetime addiction treatment coverage limits, copayments, deductibles, and inpatient and outpatient visits would be prohibited.

Treatment and prevention services covered under the bill include detoxification, medication management, counseling, relapse prevention, and methadone maintenance.

Wellstone noted that the bill may have a better chance of passage this year because of the debate over expanding mental-health parity. Because the two fields are closely linked, the addiction parity bill may benefit from the momentum from the mental-health bill.

According to recent statistics, only 2.5 percent of the 16 million Americans enrolled in private health plans receive adequate addiction-treatment services.

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:

Your Turn! Post a public comment (guidelines):

Name:
Comment: (limit 200 words)
Enter this word (help):	Change

GUIDELINES:
Comments are meant for thoughtful public discussion of the article published above. Therefore:

1. Keep it clean, courteous, focused, and on-topic.
   
   
2. Do not post personal requests for help (see resources).
   
   
3. Proof your comments carefully for spelling and punctuation, and don't use ALL CAPS. Comments are published immediately and cannot be edited.
   
   
4. Deceptive, slanderous and commercially-motivated comments are prohibited.
   

We reserve the right to remove comments not conforming to these guidelines. (Report a comment).

Have questions or feedback? Contact us.