Drug and Alcohol Rehab Blog

Your Tax Dollars for Ineffective Rehabs?

Earlier this year, a report from Join Together sharted statistics about who is bearing the cost of drug rehab.  A study funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) found that 77.4 percent of treatment in 2003 was paid for by Medicaid, Medicare, and other federal, state and local sources, up from 50.4 percent in 1986. Meanwhile, the private sector’s share of the treatment cost burden slipped from 49.6 percent in 1986 to 22.6 percent in 2003.Private insurers, who paid 29.6 percent of treatment costs in 1986, were only paying 10.1 percent by 2003. Total dollars paid by private insurers for addiction treatment fell from $2.8 billion to $2.1 billion during the same time period.

Fewer patients were paying for treatment out of their own pocket, as well: in 1986, 13.8 percent of treatment was self-paid, but that fell to 8 percent in 2003.

Despite the major increase in public funding for drug rehab services, rehabilitation centers have yet to develop a uniform outcome measuring system.  And, I for one, would like to see my tax dollars going toward something that is truly going to help people instead of lining the pockets of ineffective drug addiction treatment centers.  The money pit of government-funded drug and alcohol rehabs needs to be stopped and those funds should be re-routed to effective drug rehab programs.

Drug Rehab During the Holidays

A common mistake often made by families during the Holiday Season is to wait until after the first of the year to get help for their loved one.  While it is with good intention, it is usually a destructive decision.

The Holidays are a very difficult time for someone with a drug or alcohol problem.  All of the pain and guilt of the past becomes resurfaced when faced with family members, sometimes arguments happen, or even worse - sympathy (forgiving for what they’ve done is very different thant telling them “it’s okay” or “it’s not your fault” and allowing it to continue).

As an effort to try and get help and spend time together, some families try to schedule the drug rehab admission right after Christmas, but this opens the door for potential disaster.  From an addict’s perspective, if he or she knows that on Dec 27th he’s going to go away to rehab for a few months, then there is usually an effort for “one last time” of getting drunk or high.  That “last hurrah” becomes an increased chance of getting arrested, having an accident or overdosing. 

So why risk it?  Not being with your loved one this Holiday Season because they are in a long-term inpatient drug rehab is much better than potentially having many more difficult times in the future.

If you have a family member in need of an effective drug rehab, then call us now at 1-877-421-9659 or visit www.drug-addiction-rehab.net and we can help find a program.

Parents Preventing Drug Rehab Help?

Over the years I have come to find a very disheartening observation.  There are often parents who contact us to find effective drug rehabs for their son or daughter, and after they are referred to a successful center, and realize and ackowledge that is exactly what they’re looking for, don’t follow through with getting them the help they need.  The common thread in most of these parents that I have found is that they are on some type of prescription drug themselves.  In most cases, it is something for behavioral symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, “adult add”, “bipolar disorder” or whatever else has been concocted.  The drugs prescribed to treat the symptoms of these diagnoses render someone partially incapable of making a rational decision.  Yes, I mean even the most loving, well-intentioned mothers fail to help their children get into a drug rehab because of their own drug-taking, no matter how “harmless” it may seem.

 Don’t believe me?  I could give you dozens of specific examples.  So, if you know a parent out there who continues to not help their child get into an inpatient drug rehab program that works, look a little closer and you will probably find a prescription bottle in their purse, nightstand, medicine cabinet, kitchen or their car with their name on it.