Tri-Care, DOD?s health insurance program, has historically refused to cover opiate substitution therapy (e.g., buprenorphine, methadone) for military personnel and family members who are addicted to pain killers and/or heroin. Harold Pollack and I wrote about this at length in American Prospect earlier this year, noting in particular that these life saving therapies not being covered is a tragedy and injustice at a time when addiction rates are soaring in the military.
Thankfully, DoD has wisely proposed to change Tri-Care?s insurance coverage for drug addiction treatment. This is a credit to the addiction medicine community who advocated from outside government for the change. It is also one of many reasons why elections matter: Obama-appointed officials in DoD, HHS and the White House drug policy office all pushed hard for this reform. As a result, the 9.6 million current and former military personnel and their families who are covered by Tri-Care will finally have access to evidence-based care for opiate addiction.
[Cross-posted at The Reality-Based Community]
Keith Humphreys is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine.Source: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ten-miles-square/2011/12/the_department_of_defense_does034414.php
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