The First Federal Study of Gambling Addiction

What Congress just proposed

On May 21, 2026, Representatives Blake Moore (R-UT) and Dan Goldman (D-NY) introduced the Gambling Disorder Health Study Act (H.R. 8970), a bill that would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to run the first comprehensive federal study of gambling disorder. It was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

The bill asks a question the federal government has never seriously funded anyone to answer: what is happening to Americans now that a phone in every pocket is also a casino?

According to the sponsors' description and trade coverage of the legislation, H.R. 8970 would direct HHS to study the causes, development, at-risk demographics, and long-term effects of gambling disorder and gambling-related harm, and to evaluate prevention, treatment, and intervention strategies. It would specifically examine contributing factors like sports betting legalization and media exposure. The HHS Secretary would report to Congress every year with findings and policy recommendations. The study would be paid for by redirecting 10 percent of the existing federal excise tax on legal wagers, for up to three fiscal years.

"Gambling addiction is a growing public health crisis, especially for young men," Goldman said in a statement reported by Casino.org. Moore added, "We are in a new age of gambling addiction as sports betting and prediction markets have proliferated." The bill is endorsed by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) and the American Society of Addiction Medicine, among other groups.

Why there was nothing to study before

Here is the fact that should stop you: gambling disorder has been a recognized psychiatric condition for years. It sits in the DSM-5 alongside substance addictions, and it has its own diagnostic code in the ICD-10 (F63.0). And yet, as NCPG has said repeatedly, there is effectively no dedicated federal funding for gambling addiction research or treatment, unlike the billions of dollars directed at alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.

That is not because gambling harm is rare. The industry has never been bigger. The American Gaming Association reported that U.S. commercial gaming revenue hit a record $78.7 billion in 2025, up 9.2% over the prior year. Sports betting alone generated $16.96 billion in revenue on a total handle of nearly $167 billion.

The federal government already takes a cut. A 0.25% federal excise tax on sports-betting handle, plus a $50 annual fee per sportsbook worker, currently raises roughly $400 million a year, money that flows into the general fund with no dedicated purpose, according to Casino.org. The new bill would carve out a slice of that revenue for research. A separate, broader measure, the GRIT Act (S.454 / H.R.1141), would go further, dedicating 50% of that same excise tax to a fund split between state treatment programs and research.

The through-line is simple. For years, the money moved in one direction: into the system that profits from betting, and out of the system that helps people stop. That imbalance is the recovery gap in policy form.

What the funding gap actually costs you

Policy debates can feel far from a person staring at a betting app at 1 a.m. But this specific gap has real fingerprints on individual lives.

Consider screening. In an NCPG-commissioned Harris Poll of more than 2,000 adults conducted in February 2026, only 15% of respondents said a primary care provider had ever asked them about their gambling. Doctors routinely ask about drinking and smoking because there are decades of federally funded research, screening tools, and treatment referrals behind those questions. Gambling has had almost none of that infrastructure, so the questions rarely get asked, and the problem stays invisible until the money is gone.

The same survey found that 65% of adults reported gambling before age 21, and that 79% believe gambling addiction is as serious as, or more serious than, other addictions. The public already understands the stakes. The clinical and research systems are catching up.

"Youth are at significantly greater risk for developing gambling problems, and as gambling becomes increasingly normalized in media, sports, and online spaces, the risks grow," NCPG Executive Director Heather L. Maurer said when the survey was released.

For anyone in recovery, the practical translation is this: if you have felt like no one took gambling seriously, like your doctor never asked, like there were ten treatment centers for alcohol and none for betting in your town, you were not imagining it. The system was under-built. That is not a verdict on you. It is a verdict on the funding.

You do not have to wait for a study

A bill is not a treatment plan, and even if H.R. 8970 passes, its findings would arrive years from now. The urge you feel tonight will not wait for HHS. So here is what the research already tells us, and what you can act on today.

Gambling disorder is driven by the same brain mechanics as other addictions: intermittent reinforcement (the unpredictable payout that keeps you pulling the lever), loss chasing (betting more to recover what you lost), and cue reactivity (the way a notification, a game on TV, or a payday can light up craving before you have decided anything). These are not character flaws. They are documented patterns, and they respond to structure. To understand the criteria clinicians use, see our guide to the DSM-5 gambling disorder criteria.

Concrete steps that do not require a federal appropriation:

• Cut access first. Craving fades faster when the app is gone. Our walkthrough on how to block gambling apps covers device-level blocking, self-exclusion, and financial guardrails.
• Name the trigger. Legalized sports betting and newer products like prediction markets are engineered to feel like skill, not gambling. Knowing why sports betting is addictive makes the pull easier to interrupt.
• Get one human in the loop. A helpline counselor, a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, or a peer supporter. You can find support through Cope Compass find-help.
• Ask the question your doctor may not. Since screening is still rare, raise it yourself: tell your primary care provider you are concerned about gambling. That single sentence can open the door to treatment.

The bottom line

The Gambling Disorder Health Study Act is worth watching because it treats gambling addiction as what it is: a public health problem that deserves the same research firepower as any other addiction. That recognition is overdue. But recognition is not recovery, and no one struggling tonight should read a bill as a reason to wait.

Recovery is available now, underfunded system and all. It starts with cutting access, interrupting the cue, and telling one person the truth.

You do not have to wait for a study to start. Join Cope Compass to build a personalized plan around cutting access, interrupting the cue, and the people you can lean on, and download the app so that plan stays with you at 1 a.m. when the urge does not wait. And if you want to talk to someone right now, the National Problem Gambling Helpline is free, confidential, and available 24/7 at 1-800-MY-RESET.

Sources

• Congress.gov: H.R. 8970, Gambling Disorder Health Study Act (119th Congress)
• govinfo: BILLSTATUS H.R. 8970
• Casino.org: Gambling Disorder Health Study Act would force Congress to investigate betting abuse
• Gaming Intelligence: Bipartisan bill calls for first federal study on gambling disorder
• NCPG: National survey finds widespread gambling participation before age 21
• NCPG: GRIT Act
• American Gaming Association: Commercial gaming revenue hits $78.7 billion in 2025