Rep. Bono Mack Urges Colleagues to Include Substance Abuse in Health Care Reform

Emphasizing the wide-spread economic and health impacts of substance abuse and addiction, Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack (CA-45) called on House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders to include mental health and substance use disorder services as a part of any health care reform legislation. In her letter to the members of the committee, Rep. Bono Mack said incorporating addiction prevention, treatment and recovery into broader reform measures will improve quality of life for millions of Americans and reduce health care costs.

"With millions of people suffering from serious mental health illnesses and substance use disorders each year, it is essential that we work to include prevention and treatment programs in broader health care reform. These are chronic diseases that can be effectively prevented and treated. By investing in valuable services like prevention, treatment rehabilitation and recovery support, we can help improve quality of life for families across America while also reducing overall health care costs," said Rep. Bono Mack, who serves as Vice-Chair of the Congressional Addiction Treatment and Recovery Caucus.

Research shows every dollar invested in substance abuse prevention saves between $2 and $20 in the long run. However, since 2002, funding for prevention has decreased by 25 percent, and the President's FY2010 budget proposal decreased prevention funding by an additional 11 percent.

CADCA is part of a broad coalition, called Coalition for Whole Health, that is working to get prevention, treatment, recovery and workforce issues included in health care reform legislation. As part of that effort, CADCA developed a two-page document that explains why the full continuum of substance abuse prevention should be included in all aspects of healthcare reform (HCR).