GIVE DRUG WAR A HAND: REQUIRE INSURERS TO PAY

The Bush administration's emphasis on increased financing for
treatment as a national strategy in dealing with drug and alcohol
abuse ("Bush sets goals for reducing drug use," Feb. 13) is
encouraging, yet it ignores a major obstacle to success: the failure
of health insurance to cover adequately the cost of treatment.

Too often and often too late, people in need of alcohol or drug
treatment discover that their insurance plans won't pay for it. As a
result, people don't get what they need to help them overcome their
addiction.

The Hanley-Hazelden Center knows firsthand how serious this is; last
year, we extended approximately $1 million in patient aid. Most of
this assistance went to employed people whose health insurance would
pay only for a few days of residential treatment, if that.

To win the so-called war on drugs, it is time for health-care plans to
do their part. Comprehensive treatment works, but only when people
have an opportunity and a means to get it.

TERRY H. ALLEN
Executive director
The Hanley-Hazelden Center
West Palm Beach