Pennsylvania plans for more gambling addicts

Marc Levy

Friday, May 6, 2005 | 9:28 a.m.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Getting universities to create training courses for gambling-addiction counselors and expanding health insurance to cover treatment are among the state's challenges as it prepares for a new slot-machine industry, Health Department officials said Thursday.

During a meeting of the seven-member Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, health officials said that efforts to establish a gambling addiction treatment program largely will mirror existing drug and alcohol treatment programs.

The state's 10-month-old slot-machine gambling law directs at least $1.5 million in gambling revenue toward addiction programs, but addicts who do not meet certain income guidelines would have to pay for their own treatment, said board member Joseph "Chip" Marshall II.

"I think it would be unrealistic to think that this program will provide enough services to handle" the demand, Marshall said after the meeting.

State funding for addiction treatment is typically routed through county agencies and is reserved for low-income residents.

Gene Boyle, director of the department's drug and alcohol programs, said his staff is talking with officials from gambling states to find out what services the state's addiction program will require.

They also plan to meet with the state's nonprofit insurers and insurance regulators to see whether policies can be expanded to cover gambling addiction treatment, he said.

"There is no question that that has to be explored," Boyle said.

Out-of-state gamblers will be ineligible for the treatment dollars, although Boyle said he would approach other states about a joint effort for such cases.

Boyle said he also would ask universities to write courses to train gambling-addiction counselors and provide continuing education.

Addicts often do not seek treatment on their own but must act on another's suggestion, creating upheaval for family members and employers in the process, health officials said.

Other aspects of the addiction program will include creating a hotline to screen and refer addicts, publicizing treatment options, and training the employees staffing the casinos and hot lines to recognize problem gamblers.

The department also plans to fund studies monitoring the prevalence of gambling addiction.

The board's chairman, Tad Decker, said he has no idea how many more gambling addicts the state can expect as slot machines come online.

State lawmakers legalized slot machines in July and created the gaming control board to issue 14 gambling licenses for racetracks, resorts and other still undetermined sites around the state. The state Supreme Court is considering a challenge by gambling foes and good-government advocates, who contend the law's passage was unconstitutional.

Because the litigation could undo the law, the board has been unable to proceed with many of its new functions. Board members hope to keep a schedule that will allow the agency to begin accepting applications for slots parlors in the fall and issuing racetrack licenses as early as December.