Go to the doctor for your problems. Medical problems are best solved early. Then you often have non-medical solutions available too.
If they want to actually repeal health care, they are going to have to wait until they have a Republican president, or a veto-proof majority, which won't happen until 2012 at the earliest. There may not be repeal momentum left at that point.
Slightly more on-topic, having things like this on your medical record is a concern, but I think keeping one's good health should always be more important than insurance details that may or may not make any difference.
Why not try something natural first like counseling, exercise, meditation, etc? I'm sincerely curious why your immediate response is to use medication to solve the problem.
Additionally, all of those take MUCH more time than the trip to the pharmacy once a month. As the person in question would like to have more time to do his entrepreneurial things...time seems to be important.
AA in particular, which is based around abstinence, changes your life a lot, especially friendships involving moderate social drinking.
The medical approaches clearly tell you the side effects up front. The non-medical ones do not. The medical approaches do not change your interaction with your co-workers, friends and other colleges significantly. Non-medical ones often do. Medical approaches are shown to have much higher long term success rates than non-medical approaches.
Exercise and meditation have their own benefits, however neither are things that people often take up in a lifelong manner, it's more likely to take them up for awhile then quit.
However counseling is a hugely mixed bag, especially group therapy.
Additionally, if there is an underlying problem (such as depression), solving that can completely remove the desire to drink at all.
There are medicines which greatly treat the desire/need to drink, your doctor can suggest one which can help you change your life in the manner you'd wish to. They are far more effective than group based therapy.
Here are some: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism#Medications
Topiramate in particular sounds to be compelling for you (and many others) as you can still drink like a normal person on it, however you feel the need/desire to much less.
Many alcoholics are self medicating depressives or various other things which are solved by medications much less harmful over the longterm than alcohol. The fact you're drinking to avoid something might put you in that category.
Are you an alcoholic? Eh, maybe. Who cares. Are you drinking more than you like? Yes. Go see the doc, get the meds if you and he thinks it a good idea, and reduce that to the level you find acceptable.