Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 6, 2023 / Presidential Documents 60875 

Proclamation 10614 of August 31, 2023 

National Recovery Month, 2023 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

During National Recovery Month, we celebrate the more than 20 million 

Americans who have had the courage to seek help for substance use disorder, 

showing millions of others that recovery is possible. We honor their resilience 

and recommit to making sure that every American has access to the services 

and support they need to rebuild lives of purpose and hope. 

Substance use disorder affects families in every corner of our country. Drug 

overdoses last year took more than 100,000 American lives. Addressing 

this crisis is a core pillar of my Unity Agenda—one of the big issues 

we can tackle together as a Nation. 

That work starts by fulfilling the promise of true parity for mental health 

and substance use disorder treatment for all Americans. Mental health and 

substance use disorder care is health care. It is essential to people’s wellbeing—to their ability to lead full and productive lives, to find joy and 

meaning, to take care of themselves and their loved ones, and to give 

back to their communities and our Nation. It is about dignity. Health insurers 

should cover it the same way they would cover treatment for a broken 

bone or any other kind of health condition. And since I took office, that 

is what we have been fighting to do. 

The American Rescue Plan delivered more than $5 billion to expand mental 

health and substance use disorder services. I have worked with a group 

of bipartisan members of the Congress to make it easier for doctors to 

prescribe effective treatments for opioid use disorder, and the Food and 

Drug Administration has approved two Naloxone products for over-thecounter use, expanding access to life-saving opioid-reversal medications that 

can prevent fatal overdoses. We have expanded the Nation’s system of 

Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, opening 140 new centers 

to provide frontline care, regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. We also 

launched a nationwide Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (9–8–8), which connects 

callers to trained counselors around the clock. The Department of Labor 

created a Recovery-Ready Workplace Resource Hub to help employers support and hire people in recovery. 

We have come a long way toward improving access to care and building 

our Nation’s recovery support services infrastructure, but there is much 

more to do. Last month, my Administration proposed a new rule that would 

require health insurers to identify any gaps in the mental health and substance use disorder care they provide and to ensure that mental and physical 

health services are equally accessible. We are also working with States 

to ensure that millions of Medicaid patients enrolled in private Medicaid 

health plans have coverage for mental health and substance use disorder 

services. In all, my Fiscal Year 2024 Budget requests a historic $46 billion 

for prevention, treatment, and recovery services for substance use disorder, 

as well as reducing the supply of deadly drugs. 

Millions of Americans know and love someone who is in recovery. We 

want everyone to know that they are never alone. As a Nation working 

together, we can make recovery real for more Americans. 


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60876 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 6, 2023 / Presidential Documents 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 2023 

as National Recovery Month. I call upon all citizens, government agencies, 

private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other groups to take action 

to promote recovery and improve the health of our Nation. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day 

of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and of 

the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 

forty-eighth. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19338 

Filed 9–5–23; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3395–F3–P 


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