Media Center
Media Center
Nearly 17 million Americans have alcohol problems, including 8 million with the disease of alcoholism, yet only 2-3 million receive treatment each year. Alcohol problems lead to death, disability, and millions in avoidable business and health care costs. Alcohol-related problems cost every man, woman, and child in the U.S. $683 each year. Despite the myriad of problems stemming from alcohol use, Americans face enormous hurdles getting treated for alcohol problems. For those who can get it, the type of care depends on where they live and work, not what they need.
Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems (Ensuring Solutions) at the George Washington University Medical Center seeks to increase access to treatment for individuals with alcohol problems. Working with policymakers, employers, and concerned citizens, Ensuring Solutions provides research-based information and tools to help curb the avoidable health care and other costs associated with alcohol use and improve access to treatment for Americans who need it.
New & Newsworthy
Insurance Legislators Consider Value of Screening for Alcohol Problems
May 06, 2008At the 2008 NCOIL Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C., a panel led by Eric Goplerud, PhD (the director of Ensuring Solutions) and Dr. Larry Gentillelo (a trauma surgeon) urged members of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators to support screening and brief intervention (SBI) for substance use problems. Conference attendees were told that they could support SBI by pushing their home states to fund Medicaid screening efforts and by repealing laws that discourage screening in hospital emergency rooms.
Many Health Plans Will Now Pay for Substance Use Screening and Brief Intervention
April 17, 2008WASHINGTON (April 17, 2008)—Responses to eValue8™, an annual survey of American health plans conducted by the National Business Coalition on Health, indicate that 58 percent of the 150 plans surveyed will pay for substance use screening and brief intervention services (SBI). In addition, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently announced that the 5.6 million employees with Federal health insurance will also be covered for SBI services.
FEHBP Annual Call Letter Highlights New SBI Codes
March 24, 2008The Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) emphasizes the importance of screening and brief intervention codes.
Hospitality Tops List of Industries with Highest Rates of Alcohol Problems
March 25, 2008A new analysis of government data finds that 15 percent of employees in the hospitality industry suffer from serious alcohol-related problems.
Behavioral Health Vendors Improving Alcohol Treatment Services
April 17, 2008According to the preliminary results from an Ensuring Solutions survey about workplace alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI), employers and behavioral health vendors are doing more to address workplace alcohol issues. More than 60 percent of behavioral health vendors surveyed have reviewed the adequacy of their alcohol treatment products and services in the last two years.
Alcohol Cost Calculator Updated with New Data from National Surveys
March 20, 2008The Ensuring Solutions Alcohol Cost Calculator for Business, originally developed in 2003, has been updated with data from the 2004 and 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The calculator estimates the cost of alcohol problems to individual businesses based on characteristics specified by calculator users.
Reimbursement Codes Change the Landscape of Substance Use Screening
February 22, 2008Alcohol and drug use contributes to injury and often complicates healthcare. The recent development of medical reimbursement codes for alcohol and substance use assessment and brief intervention may help primary care providers, trauma professionals, and behavioral health counselors more readily establish alcohol and drug screening as routine practice.
War Veterans Could Benefit from Screening for Stress and Alcohol Problems
November 28, 2007Soldiers returning to the U.S. from war zones may initially report few problems, but as time passes post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol problems and a host of other mental health issues could become serious concerns for returning soldiers, their families and their employers.
New Standards Announced for Treating Substance Use Conditions
September 20, 2007More than 350 American healthcare organizations have endorsed a set of voluntary standards for the treatment of substance use conditions, the National Quality Forum (NQF) recently announced. Adoption of these standards by healthcare providers will dramatically improve the diagnosis and treatment of substance use conditions in the United States.
Changes on the Horizon for Treating Alcohol-Related Problems
July 23, 2007New alcohol treatment approaches including screening and brief interventions, new medications for treating alcohol dependence, and new medical procedural codes promise to transform the way that managed care organizations and other health care entities treat alcohol use disorders.
Mental Health Parity Legislation to Extend Statute to All Insurance Carriers
February 06, 2007Bipartisan support leads effort to establish new mental health parity legislation for U.S. insurers. Research shows that equal coverage for physical and mental illnesses would not increase costs.
As Per Capita Alcohol Consumption Increases, So Does Sickness Absence
January 03, 2007Research in Sweden demonstrates that increased per capita alcohol consumption is associated with increased workplace absenteeism. The study provides convincing evidence that employers should be concerned about excessive alcohol consumption -- even when employees drink outside of the workplace.
FDA Calls for Stronger Warning Labels on Over-the-Counter Medication
December 22, 2006The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed stronger warning labels for over-the-counter painkillers like acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen.
Approximately 200,000 Americans are hospitalized every year due to adverse reactions to these drugs. In many cases, the culprit is the interaction of painkillers and alcohol.
To learn more about the potential for harm when painkillers and alcohol are combined, read "How Alcohol Complicates Medication Use."
Two Birds with One Stone
December 15, 2006The drinking issues of 18- to 24-year-old employees can easily spill into the workplace – leading to injuries, high rates of hospital and emergency room use, conflict on the job and reduced productivity. What’s more, binge or heavy drinking at this age can lead to alcoholism, a costly drain on an employers’ healthcare budget. Two-fifths of young working people in this age group engage in binge drinking, the federal government has found, and nearly a fifth are heavy drinkers.
Tips for Safe and Sober Workplace Holiday Parties
December 08, 2006Keep your employees safe and while enjoying the holidays with some sober tips about office holiday parties.
Medicaid Will Pay for Addiction Screening; Advocates Seek AMA Action, Too
October 06, 2006Starting in January 2007, the federal Medicaid program will pay for screening and brief intervention (SBI) programs for alcohol and other drug addiction.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently added two new reimbursement codes for insurance claims: one for addiction screening, the other for brief-intervention services. The change was made to the HCSPCS Level II coding system. Read more.
Medicaid Will Pay for Alcohol and Drug Screening
September 07, 2006Early Drinking Increases Risk for Alcohol Dependence
September 26, 2006People who start drinking before the age of 14 are more likely to become alcoholics than those who abstain from alcohol until they're 21 and are more likely to become dependent on alcohol faster according to recent study.