Repeal of state laws permitting denial of health claims resulting from alcohol impairment: Impact on treatment utilization.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Many states in the U.S. still have Alcohol Exclusion Laws (AELs), which allow insurance companies to deny health claims resulting from alcohol impairment. There are concerns that this form of structural stigmatization affects alcohol treatment-seeking behaviors. We examined the effects of AEL repeal on treatment admissions for alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Methods

Data on alcohol treatment admissions from 1992 to 2017 were obtained from the Treatment Episode Data Set. The state-level aggregate number of treatment admissions was derived, including healthcare professional referrals only, self-referrals only, and both self-referral and healthcare professional referrals. The number of treatment admissions by health insurance status (private, public, and uninsured) was a

SUBMITTER: Azagba S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8810622 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature