Health plans provide coverage only for services that they deem medically necessary and often resist disclosing the criteria used in making those decisions. They also sometimes use more restrictive criteria when deciding whether to provide substance use disorder benefits than they do for comparable medical issues.

These practices not only make it difficult for patients to obtain life-saving care, but violate the law.We need our government representatives to hold insurance companies responsible and enforce the Parity Act, but we need your voice to do it.

People and families struggling with substance use and addiction encounter a variety of systemic challenges throughout their journey, which is why we created a new section of our website called “Help Us Change the Story of Addiction.” The site features personal stories that bring these structural barriers to life, including Virginia Holleman’s story about her experience with insurance companies while her son sought treatment. Each story offers visitors an opportunity to advocate for policy change by signing an action alert or by sharing similar stories from their own journey.

Let’s change the story of addiction today.