The Cost of Addiction Treatment

addiction and alcoholism are believed to be a learned behavior that is masking a person's emotional or physical pain. There are almost as many treatments as there are addicts and alcoholics. Educate yourself before making any type of life-changing decison regarding alcoholism, addiction and substance abuse treatment.

The Cost of Addiction Treatment

NIAAA: "More than 70 percent of the estimated costs of alcohol abuse for 1998 (for the U.S.) were attributed to lost productivity ($134.2 billion)... The remaining estimated costs included health care expenditures ($26.3 billion, or 14.3 percent of the total), such as the costs of treating alcohol abuse and dependence ($7.5 billion) and the costs of treating the adverse medical consequences of alcohol consumption ($18.9 billion)...."

A Washington state pilot study has found that the average monthly medical bills of disabled residents who receive needed addiction treatment services are $774 lower than those of disabled individuals who need treatment but don't receive it. (Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly)

The California Patient's Guide, Your Health Care Rights and Remedies: "You have the right to receive emergency care at any licensed facility with an emergency room. You have the right to be treated until you emergency medical condition is stabilized when you go to a hospital emergency room.... The federal regulations that apply to Medicare hospitals expand upon this definition to expressly include psychiatric disturbances and symptoms of substance abuse to the extent that such conditions meet the definition of an emergency medical condition."

Although 28% of Americans have a behavioral health disorder at sometime during any given year, less than a third of adults with mental health problems and less than half of those with substance abuse problems receive treatment. (Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved)

NIDA: "Patients in programs surveyed for DATOS (the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study- NIDA,'93) showed a marked reduction in drug use after treatment regardless of the type of treatment program (inpatient, residential, outpatient, etc.) in which they participated."

NIDA: "Patients who stay in treatment longer than 3 months usually have better outcomes than those who stay less time. Patients who go through medically assisted withdrawal to minimize discomfort but do not receive any further treatment, perform about the same in terms of their drug use as those who were never in treatment.

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