Detox program for vets would cost $374M

Before you judge them or assume anything keep one thing in mind as you read this. The vast majority of the veterans turning to drugs and alcohol are doing it to kill off feelings they don't want to have and are self-medicating in order to get relief. Yes there are some drug addicts and alcoholics just like everyone else but unlike everyone else, they have been wounded by what they saw and did.

Detox program for vets would cost $374M

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 14, 2008 11:24:59 EDT

An expanded substance abuse program for veterans passed two weeks ago by a House committee would cost $374 million over five years and require the hiring of 153 nurses to provide detoxification services, according to a cost estimate prepared by the Congressional Budget Office.

Called the Justin Bailey Veterans Substance Use Disorders Prevention and Treatment Act of 2008, the bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide treatment for substance abuse at every medical center, either through in-house programs or contracts.

Some substance abuse services already are provided by VA hospitals and clinics. Most of the additional cost would come from providing expanded detoxification and stabilization programs, residential care and intensive outpatient care, according to a cost estimate from the nonpartisan budget office responsible for determining the price tag of pending legislation.

The 153 advanced practice nurses, one for every VA medical center, would cost VA an average of $135,000 each in salary and benefits, according to the estimate.

Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee on health, is the chief sponsor of the bill that is named for an Iraq war veteran who died in 2007 at the West Los Angeles Medical Center of an apparent drug overdose. One day before his death, Bailey had filled five prescriptions for medication at the VA hospital, including one for methadone, used to wean addicts off narcotics.

The bill, HR 5554, was approved by the House Veterans’ Committee on April 30 by voice vote. It has not been scheduled for a vote by the full House of Representatives while lawmakers determine the cost and how to pay for it. A similar Senate bill has a slightly higher price tag because of a difference in the effective date of the substance abuse programs. http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/05/military_substanceabuse_051408w/

My husband was in a rehab with the VA before he started to get help from the VA for PTSD. So please, don't judge them unless you know them.