by Lisa Frederiksen
I’ll never forget the first time I found myself brave enough to actually sneak into a treatment center (it was part of our community hospital so I could always say I was there to visit a friend if I accidentally ran into someone I knew) to ask about treatment programs for my loved one (a loved one who had no intention of EVER calling himself an alcoholic, let alone EVER considering he may need treatment). I was desperate. This was years ago, and as I recall, the program had a price quote of around $15,000 for a 28-day residential treatment program. That stopped me, but the news got worse – there were no guarantees. I was actually aware enough to ask how successful was their treatment program and told that a huge percentage (I don’t recall the figure, other than it was not the kind of odds I liked) of patients were not sober a year later. [Oh yea, and there was no insurance coverage, either.] That ended my search for treatment programs, and instead, I went home and redoubled my efforts to “help” him get control of his drinking.
Thankfully, treatment programs have improved tremendously and payment options have and continue to change, but this is another area our legislators need to tackle – how to include the costs of addiction treatment programs as part of a national health plan. “According to the California Drug and Alcohol Treatment Assessment (CALDATA), every $1 invested in substance abuse treatment has a return of $7 in cost savings from reduced health costs, crime, lost productivity, etc.” (1) As you read the next statistics, you can see there is clearly a need to do something.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2006, 23.6 million persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol abuse problem (9.6 percent of the persons aged 12 or older). Of these, only 2.5 million — 10.8 percent of those who needed treatment — received it at a specialty facility. (2) According to this same survey, of patients entering treatment, the majority were 20 – 24 years old (14.4 percent), followed by those 25 to 29 (14 percent) and 40 to 44 (13.9 percent). (3) [Please note: how many are under the age of 29!]
For now, consider SAMHSA’s Substance Abuse Treatment Locator. It is searchable database that will help you locate the drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs nearest you. It also has a great FAQ – consider this question, Where can a person with no money and no insurance get treatment? BUT, before I sign off – please know that there are many treatment options outside of a residential, 28-day program that can work – individual therapy, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) – which is free, group therapy, counseling with a spiritual advisor or some combination of the preceding, to name a few.
And, to help you get in contact with your legislator – this group – Roll Call Congress.org – can help.
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(1) Scanlon, Anna, “State Spending on Substance Abuse Treatment,” National Conference of State Legislators, 2002
