• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Thousands of uninsured South Dakota residents with drug and alcohol addictions will become eligible for insurance when the federal health care overhaul takes effect in January, but South Dakota officials believe the state's substance abuse treatment system will be able to handle the influx of patients.
• An estimated 74,000 South Dakotans, or 11.7 percent of the state's population, need treatment for alcoholism and drug abuse, but only 9,000 are currently getting treatment in rehabilitation facilities, hospitals or other centers, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
• An Associated Press analysis of government data shows more than 6,500 South Dakotans with drug and alcohol problems will become eligible for insurance coverage under the new health care law. That number would rise to more than 13,500 if the state expands its Medicaid system, but the state has delayed a decision on that.
• Amy Iverson Pollreisz, deputy secretary of the state Social Services Department, said about 14,000 people now get some kind of substance abuse treatment through accredited providers in the state. Most of the people who would become eligible for insurance coverage under the federal law are already getting treatment or could do so under other funding sources, she said.
• The addition of insurance coverage will just help pay for those substance abuse treatments, Iverson Pollreisz said.
• "We don't anticipate that it will swamp the system," Iverson Pollreisz.
• South Dakota has 57 accredited providers of substance abuse treatment, ranging from small to large operations, she said.
• Terry Dosch, executive director of the South Dakota Council of Substance Abuse Directors, said he anticipates that facilities will be asked to provide more services after the health care law provides insurance coverage to more people. He said officials are concerned about the supply of qualified professionals to provide that service, but he also does not think the system will be overwhelmed.
• "We're a little pensive about that. We are looking to reinforce our outpatient services to be able to accommodate that," Dosch said.
• Most South Dakotans with private insurance currently do not opt to get coverage

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