The court system has adopted AA as a way to deal with the addicts who clutter the legal system, as they inevitably do. For instance, if you're a designated asshole who got wasted one night and then got popped for a DUI, then you can count on serving the jail time, losing the license and paying the high-risk insurance. But if you demonstrate symptoms of the disease called alcoholism, then you can have your prosecution deferred as long as you agree to a strict treatment regimen. This appears to be another case of compassionate capitalism, of helping the helpless until they can help the economy. The state funds addiction treatment centers, as do many corporate donors.
Insurance companies cover the cost of treatment as a matter of routine.
I was in treatment myself - four weeks in a bucolic, ranchlike institution in eastern Washington. After completing treatment, I stayed in touch with four or five of the fellows in my therapy group. A couple months after my release, walking through Belltown on my way to the restaurant, I ran into one of these guys. He's smart, charismatic and was once the envy of the other salesman in the insurance company he worked for, pulling in accounts at a rate well above his quota. When I saw him on Second Avenue, he didn't need to say a word for me to realize that he was back at it.