SOBER REALITY: DISABLED DUE TO ADDICTION, ALCOHOLISM LOSE BENEFITS

Alcohol and drug abusers who cannot work primarily because of their addictions will find their pockets much emptier this year.

That's because a new law that went into effect Jan. 1 bans issuing Social Security Disability Income and Supplemental Security Income disability benefits to people who claim drug addiction or alcoholism as their disability. The law also affects Medicare and Medicaid coverage based on SSDI and SSI benefits.

However, if an individual is still found to be disabled after seeking treatment, they may reapply for benefits. Mary Shepard, outpatient coordinator for the Gibson Recovery Center in Cape Girardeau, said this will allow people who have a disability in addition to substance abuse to continue to receive benefits.

"If a person has a dual diagnosis with a substance abuse and a psychiatric disorder, they may still be eligible," she said. "A lot of people do receive dual diagnosis, such as an alcohol dependency and a diagnosis of schizophrenia. It's more significant than people would think."

Shepard said lawmakers notified people who receive the checks and counseling and treatment centers of the termination early in 1996. This allowed people time to seek treatment before their checks were cut off, she said. Counselors also were hired to give benefit assessments, she said, and to refer people to treatment centers if necessary.

"The government really showed a lot of prudence in how they handled this," Shepard said. "There were a lot of people assessed who did choose to seek treatment. I thought that showed a lot of foresight on the side of legislators."

Larry Holdman, a counselor at the Family Counseling Center in Cape Girardeau, said the new law will not have a noticeable effect at his workplace or others like it because the people still will be able to pay for services. "There will be little effect on our center because there will be treatment available through Department of Mental Health purchase of services," he said. "Also, many of them will still be able to receive the checks if they have a dual diagnosis."

Holdman said the law was developed to keep people from abusing the system, and to get them into treatment centers. "Basically, some of them managed to get into the system with only one diagnosis and they misused the funds," he said. "I think we had people out there who were using the money to buy alcohol and drugs rather than providing adequate care, food and housing."

Jack Selner, residential program coordinator at the Gibson Center, said the law will have a number of impacts on the individual and the community. "It's going to have the biggest impact on the people who have been offered treatment and have not utilized it," he said.

Selner said these people would most likely end up in the courts or in the hospitals. Both instances, he said, would eventually send these people to a recovery center.

"There won't be an effect on treatment centers, at least not immediately," he said. "The impact is going to be on society itself. We have to look at what (alcohol and drug abusers) will do to support their addiction. These people will resort to other sources to get their drug of choice, whether it's borrowing, stealing or begging."

Shepard, Holdman and Selner agreed that the best choice would be to get people with addictions into a treatment program, but they said this law probably will not be a large factor in accomplishing that.