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Detox program for vets would cost $374M

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.