Access to Health Care Services for Addiction Will Improve Dramatically: Faces & Voices of Recovery
Once the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is fully implemented in
2014, access to effective health care services for addiction will
improve dramatically, according to Faces & Voices of Recovery. In an issue brief,
the advocacy group describes how the new legislation will make it
possible for many in or seeking recovery to be included in the health
care system for the first time.
Those who will benefit from the new law include people who were
previously enrolled in Medicaid, and then were disenrolled; those who
are coming out of the criminal justice system; and people who have not
been able to afford insurance.
Under the ACA, a single enrollment application will determine if you
are eligible for either Medicaid or the state insurance exchange, based
on your reported annual income. People who do not qualify for Medicaid
will be able to buy affordable health insurance through state health
insurance exchanges. These are marketplaces that will be available to
people who are not covered through their employer’s health plan, and
those who work for small employers who provide employees with multiple
health plan options.
The law guarantees that insurance companies will not be allowed to
deny someone coverage or place a lifetime cap on what is deemed
reimbursable because of a pre-existing condition. According to the
brief, “The new policy regarding pre-existing conditions, already in
place for children, has direct applications to the recovery community.
Addiction to alcohol and other drugs (or a substance use disorder, as it
is sometimes called) has been considered a pre-existing condition by
many insurers, and used as a means to deny claims and a disqualifier for
coverage. That will no longer be legal.”
Read the entire issue brief for more information on addiction treatment and the ACA.
