Health Reform Update - 9/11/09

This week, Legal Action Center and SAAS participated in a number of events celebrating SAMHSAs Recovery Month, including the press conference to release the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), and the annual Recovery Month luncheon. Event participants and speakers included ONDCP Director Gil Kerlikowske, SAMHSAs Acting Director Rear Admiral Eric B. Broderick, Director of SAMHSAs Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Dr. H. Westley Clark, and Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack (R-CA).

The NSDUH, which found that in 2008 20.8 million people in need of treatment for a problem with alcohol or other drugs did not receive it, can be found at: http://oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k8nsduh/2k8Results.cfm. A full schedule of Recovery Month events and a toolkit of resources can be found at: http://www.recoverymonth.gov/.

We continue to lead advocacy efforts with Congress and the Administration to ensure that prevention, treatment and recovery are fully and equitably included in national healthcare reform. We are continuing to coordinate advocacy activities for the Coalition on Whole Health, a coalition of over forty national organizations in the mental health and addiction prevention, treatment and recovery communities.

This week, we sent a letter to the bi-partisan leadership of Congress, urging full and equitable inclusion of the full continuum of addiction and mental health services and providers. Over 260 national and state and local organizations from the addiction prevention, treatment and recovery, mental health, public health, childrens advocacy, HIV/AIDS, criminal justice, civil rights and housing communities signed on to this letter, which we think will be a very helpful tool in our advocacy. This letter can be found on the national healthcare reform section of the LAC website at: http://lac.org/index.php/lac/category/national_healthcare_reform.

The Senate Finance Committee, the final Committee that will produce a healthcare reform bill, released a healthcare reform proposal this week. After receiving the proposal, LAC staff worked to analyze how the provisions in the proposal would apply to people with addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery support, and mental health needs. We are working with our key contacts with close connections to Senate Finance members to push for improvements to ensure that the legislation fully and equitably includes addiction and mental health.

Draft legislation is expected to be released by the Finance Committee early next week. We will work with the Coalition to analyze the legislation and provide feedback to the Committee on the legislations provisions for addiction and mental health services and providers.

These advocacy efforts are just the beginning. As a friend of the substance use disorder field and as someone who believes in the power of advocacy and the reality of recovery, we know that you will find the National Advocacy Campaign for Smarter and More Effective Drug and Alcohol Policies as exciting as we do. In order to make the work of the campaign possible, please consider joining the effort to change alcohol and drug policies. Become a member by making a contribution. To join the campaign, click here. Thank you for your support!