Task Force Aims to Impose Standards on Addiction Treatment Field

A group of addiction treatment experts and insurance company executives have formed a task force that aims to impose standards on the addiction treatment field, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Substance Use Treatment Task Force will evaluate treatment approaches shown to be most effective, and draft a plan to ensure that state agencies and insurance companies require addiction treatment centers to use those approaches as a condition for licensing and payment.

The group includes Penny Mills, Chief Executive of the American Society of Addiction Medicine; Michael Botticelli, former Director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy; and officials from Cigna and UnitedHealth Group. Gary Mendell, founder of the addiction advocacy group Shatterproof, is organizing the task force.