Largest Health Insurer in Massachusetts Has Cut Narcotic Prescriptions
 

By Join Together Staff | April 9, 2014 | 1 Comment | Filed in Community Related, Insurance, Prescription Drugs & Prevention


Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state’s largest health insurer, announced it has reduced prescriptions of narcotic painkillers by about 6.6 million pills in the past 18 months. The insurer limited the amount of opioids that members could obtain without prior approval of the company, WBUR reports.

Since the changes were implemented in July 2012, prescriptions for opioids including Percocet have declined by 20 percent, and those for long-lasting drugs such as OxyContin have declined by 50 percent, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts President Andrew Dreyfus told The Boston Globe.

An initial review of prescription information, launched in 2011, revealed more than 30,000 of the company’s members received opioid prescriptions that lasted for more than 30 days. “What we found out is in looking at patients who deserved to get pain medications or needed pain medications, many of them were getting significantly more than they would need,” Dr. John Fallon, Senior Vice President and Chief Physician Executive, told WBUR.

Under the program, patients are initially given shorter-term prescriptions for opioids. Patients seeking long-term prescriptions must go through a review process. Before patients are given more medication beyond the new limits, they must be assessed for the risk of addiction, and must agree on a treatment plan with their doctor.

Patients with cancer or other terminal illnesses are exempt from the rules.

“In the past, physicians said that no one should be in pain, and people gave more prescription medication than they probably needed, and that led to supply sitting around, which was then used for inappropriate reasons,” Fallon said. “Now I think there’s an awareness in the physician community how hazardous these medications are.”

Treatment for Heroin Addiction Can Be Difficult to Find, Experts Say
 

By Join Together Staff | April 9, 2014 | 2 Comments | Filed in Drugs, Healthcare, Insurance & Treatment

People seeking treatment for heroin addiction face a number of obstacles, including a lack of treatment beds, expensive care, and insurance companies that refuse to pay for inpatient rehab, according to ABC News.

Most insurance companies will not pay for inpatient heroin detoxification or rehab because withdrawal from the drug is generally not deadly, according to Anthony Rizzuto, a provider relations representative at Seafield Center, a rehabilitation clinic on Long Island, N.Y. He says insurance companies either claim the patient does not meet the “criteria for medical necessity” for inpatient care, or they require the patient to first try outpatient rehab and “fail” before being considered for inpatient treatment.

Most experts say inpatient care is often needed for a person addicted to heroin. Withdrawal, which in regular abusers may occur as early as a few hours after the last administration, produces drug craving, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps, kicking movements and other symptoms. Major withdrawal symptoms peak between 48 and 72 hours after the last dose, and subside after about a week. Sudden withdrawal by heavily dependent users who are in poor health can be fatal.

The symptoms of withdrawal are so bad that many people go back to using heroin, often with deadly consequences. Even people who are able to stop using heroin without treatment often relapse. They may overdose because they use as much heroin as they did before, but their system can’t handle the same level of drug as before they went through withdrawal.

Even patients who do get some insurance coverage for heroin treatment generally don’t get 30 days in a residential center. The average duration is 11 to 14 days, according to Tom McLellan, CEO of the nonprofit Treatment Research Institute in Philadelphia. After insurance companies stop paying, facilities discharge patients, even if they are not done with treatment.

The average cost of a 30-day inpatient stay is about $30,000.

States That Don’t Expand Medicaid Leave Millions of Mentally Ill Uninsured: Report
 

By Join Together Staff | April 9, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Healthcare, Insurance, Legislation, Mental Health & Treatment

About 3.7 million Americans, who live in states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act, suffer from mental illness, psychological distress or a substance use disorder and don’t have health insurance, according to a recent report.

Twenty-four states have not expanded their Medicaid programs, according to USA Today. In the states that did expand Medicaid, about 3 million people with a mental health or substance use disorder, who were formerly uninsured, now are eligible for coverage. The findings come from the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA).

The Affordable Care Act originally required states to expand Medicaid benefits, but in 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to opt out of participating in the expansion.

“It is really a tragedy,” said Joel Miller, Executive Director of AMHCA. “When uninsured people with mental health conditions, such as depression, gain Medicaid coverage, they become healthier and life expectancy increases, but in states that refuse to expand Medicaid, citizens will see their hopes dashed for a better life and better health.”

The report findings come from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which counted people with serious mental illness, serious psychological distress, and substance use disorders. The group found almost 75 percent (2.7 million adults) of all uninsured persons with a mental health condition or substance use disorder who are eligible for coverage in the non-expansion states live in 11 southern states that have rejected the Medicaid expansion: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

More than 1.1 million uninsured people who have serious mental health and substance abuse conditions live in just two states — Texas (625,000) and Florida (535,000). These more than 1.1 million people are eligible for coverage under the new Medicaid expansion program, but won’t receive it, the report noted.

PRO-ACT Family Addiction Education Program helps families address drug and alcohol addiction



Next free sessions start May 1, 6 or 7 at various locations in five counties



When someone is addicted to drugs or alcohol, the disease affects the entire family. Each month PRO-ACT (Pennsylvania Recovery Organization–Achieving Community Together) hosts a free Family Addiction Education Program to help individuals and families recognize and address an addiction problem in a spouse, parent, child or other loved one. Led by trained volunteers who have been in the same situation, these information and support programs begin the first week of each month and run one evening a week for three consecutive weeks. Each session lasts two hours.



Programs are offered at several locations throughout the five-county southeast Pennsylvania region:

· Tuesdays—From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Media and Northeast Philadelphia.

· Wednesdays—From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Pottstown; from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in North Philadelphia; and from 7 p.m.to 9 p.m. in West Chester.

· Thursdays—From 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Northern Liberties; 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Bristol and Colmar.

Sessions are free and confidential—first names only. Pre-registration is required. To register, call 800-221-6333, weekdays 9 a.m. through 5 p.m., or visit http://councilsepa.org/programs/pro-act/family-education-program/.

APRIL 9 v 12 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB

If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit.
If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer.



STEP 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs.



WISDOM - knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life. : the natural ability to understand things that most other people cannot understand.

 

Step twelve is more than a step for those of us who work it on the daily . It is a milestone a Chapter in our lives that was fought for. We are not born with the gift of wisdom ,it is earned and I would not trade one single day of my struggles and suffering . The sorrows , struggles , and pain of our past made us the hard core Recovery advocates we are today . The knowledge and wisdom we have fought for and earned must be honed into a gift used in saving those like we once were .



Matthew 5 41 And whoever makes you go one mile, go with him too .

By : Joseph Dickerson 

Handheld Device That Delivers Opioid Overdose Treatment Approved by FDA
 

By Join Together Staff | April 8, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Addiction, Government & Treatment


The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a handheld device that delivers a single dose of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, The New York Times reports.

The device, called Evzio, is similar to an EpiPen used to stop allergic reactions to bee stings, the article notes. It can be used by friends or relatives of a person who has overdosed. When the device is turned on, it will give verbal instructions about how to use it. The medication blocks the ability of heroin or opioid painkillers to attach to brain cells. Evzio is expected to be available this summer.

“This is a big deal, and I hope gets wide attention,” said Dr. Carl R. Sullivan III, Director of the Addictions Program at West Virginia University. “It’s pretty simple: Having these things in the hands of people around drug addicts just makes sense because you’re going to prevent unnecessary mortality.”

According to a news release from the FDA, family members or caregivers should become familiar with the instructions for use before administering Evzio. “Family members or caregivers should also become familiar with the steps for using Evzio and practice with the trainer device, which is included along with the delivery device, before it is needed,” the FDA advises. The agency notes that because naloxone may not work as long as opioids, repeat doses may be needed. A person utilizing the device should seek immediate medical care for the patient.

Many states have begun to make naloxone more widely available. The FDA notes existing naloxone drugs require administration via syringe, and are most commonly used by trained medical personnel in emergency departments and ambulances.

Photo source: Medgadget.com

Medicaid Law That Limits Available Beds Impedes Addiction Treatment
 

By Join Together Staff | April 8, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Addiction, Government, Healthcare, Legislation & Treatment

Major obstacles remain to expanded treatment for addiction through the Medicaid program, according to USA Today. Although the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires treatment be offered to people who are newly insured through insurance exchanges or Medicaid, experts say a federal law is limiting available beds nationwide.

A federal restriction does not allow drug treatment centers with more than 16 beds to bill Medicaid for residential services provided to low-income adults. The law was meant to prevent Medicaid dollars from funding private mental institutions that warehoused patients, according to the article. The result is that addiction treatment centers are turning away new Medicaid patients who are entitled to treatment under the ACA.

“We don’t have enough capacity right now,” Becky Vaughn, Executive Director of State Associations of Addiction Services in Washington, told the newspaper. “The unintended consequence is that you are discriminating against an adult who needs help,” said Elizabeth Stanley-Salazar, a Vice President at the Phoenix House. “We don’t do that for any other illness or disease.”

Toby Douglas, Director of California’s Health Care Services Department, said only 10 percent of the available inpatient beds in the state are in facilities that meet the federal government’s restrictions. Most treatment for substance abuse in Colorado is provided in centers with more than 16 beds, according to Arthur Schut, Chief Executive Officer of Arapahoe House. “Everyone is in agreement about how dumb this is,” he said. “It doesn’t work economically, and it doesn’t work for the people seeking treatment.”

The federal government does not plan to change the law, according to Suzanne Fields, a senior adviser on health care financing for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. She said the federal government is looking at alternatives, such as treating patients under programs already paid for with other federal funds.

Poison Control Centers Receiving More Calls for Nicotine Poisoning From E-Cigarettes
 

By Join Together Staff | April 8, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Tobacco & Youth

Poison control centers are reporting an increase in the number of calls they are receiving for nicotine poisoning from e-cigarettes. This February, centers received 215 calls, compared with about one per month in 2010.

About half of calls related to nicotine poisoning from e-cigarettes involved children age 5 or younger, HealthDay reports. Dr. Tim McAfee, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health, which published the findings, said many people don’t know liquid nicotine is toxic. “The time has come to start thinking about what we can do to keep this from turning into an even worse public health problem,” he said.

McAfee said the Food and Drug Administration is expected to propose regulations for e-cigarettes, and he hopes they include childproof caps and warning labels. “These things can be hardwired into these products, rather than being left to the whim of the manufacturer,” he said. McAfee urged e-cigarette users to keep the devices and their refills out of the reach of children. “These should be treated with the same caution one would use for bleach. In some ways, this is more toxic than bleach,” he said.

He explained liquid nicotine can be poisonous if it is swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin or membranes in the mouth, lips or eyes. It can cause nausea, vomiting or seizures.

In a CDC news release, Director Dr. Tom Frieden said, “E-cigarette liquids as currently sold are a threat to small children because they are not required to be childproof, and they come in candy and fruit flavors that are appealing to children.”

APRIL 8 v 35 TWELVE STEPPING WITH THE POWER IN THE PROVERB

For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the Lord;

STEP 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God .



Someone commented on one of my posts the other day ! They stated whatever happened too keep it simple. Well today's post is gonna be as simple as it gets . Step one thru three commit with all your heart get that done according to the PROVERB you find GOD you find life and favor from above.


Psalm 118:8 “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”

By Joseph Dickerson

Pennsylvania NAADAC Survey

Dear Joseph ,

Parity, integrated care, Affordable Care Act, Recovery Coaching, and many other developments – both in practice and policy – are reshaping the addiction treatment and recovery industry. For these changes to provide meaningful improvement in outcomes for our clients, our voices need to be heard.

Negotiations on a variety of issues are proceeding around tables at every level. It is critical to the addiction counselor profession as well as to our clients that representation addressing the needs of all of Pennsylvania Addiction Treatment and Recovery Providers be at every table.

NAADAC offers us the opportunity to be united and to be heard with energetic and pertinent advocacy!

We are a small task force of members working toward a revitalization of our voices, and re-establish the Pennsylvania affiliate of NAADAC. We are seeking input and participation from current NAADAC members as well as potential members. In order for the organization to hone in on issues particular to a state or region, it is imperative that representation from that area be heard. State affiliates are the vehicle for that voice.

Your opinion and participation matters!

Please take a few moments and complete the following survey.

Join NAADAC, or renew your membership, online today. Visit http://www.naadac.org/membership/join

Thank you for your loyal membership, your help, your voice, and your participation. We will be in contact with you to advise you of the results of this survey and the action steps that will follow.

Sincerely,


Nancy M.Newman & Devin Reaves, Pennsylvania Planning Task Group
Ron Pritchardt, Mid-Atlantic Regional Vice-President, NAADAC
Cynthia Moreno Tuohy, Executive Director, NAADAC



Click HERE to take the survey!

Daily Quote

"All the things that truly matter — beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace — arise from beyond the mind." - Eckhart Tolle

Today's Online Meetings

AA Meeting - 8:00 pm CST: "Face to Face"

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APRIL 7 v 4 v 5 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB 

 Love wisdom like a sister;

make insight a beloved member of your family.

 Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman,

from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman.

STEP 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

What should be added to the proverb with this day and age is an affair with a man or woman. If you really want to go for a ride on the Relapse Roller Coaster this is a sure fire way back to Highville. So when your attending a meeting and your putting your name and number down on the list stop trying to remember someones number .Early in recovery is not a good time for a relationship especially if you are already involved with someone or married. Sex can be just as addictive as chemical substances and if you have an issue attend meetings where the opposite sex is not a part of it . There are lot of you in recovery who work the rooms like a Great White shark just circling waiting for your next victim , Shame ! Shame ! You gotta get focused on you and how to stay sober ! Give yourself at least a year ,adding someone to your life when it is a train wreck is like jumping out of a airplane without a parachute . That is the beautiful part of step five ,when feeling tempted do not resist temptation on your own wrestling that Ape is almost a guaranteed failure instead tell someone like your sponsor .Getting someone else involved will be the best way to deal with the temptation and getting another s perspective could save your butt. 

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

By :Joseph Dickerson

Daily Quote

"Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny--he has something to fulfill, some message has to be delivered, some work has to be completed. You are not here accidentally--you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you." - Osho

Today's Online Meetings

AA Meeting - 8:00 pm CST: "Face to Face"

Copyright 2011 Community of Recovering People LLC

Privacy Policy

APRIL 5 v 7 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB

A proverb in the mouth of a fool

is as useless as a paralyzed leg.

STEP 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addictions—that our lives had become unmanageable. 

Unfortunately that is what I was and can still be at times. It is human nature to think you have all the answers to life. Reading Gods Big book and working the steps on a daily basis will keep the foolishness to a minimum . Step one says we are powerless over addictions ,I struggle with that because it is not your DOC that has control , it is the fool inside all of us that you powerless against. You have to call him out and recognize that he has gotten control of you .The only way you defeat him is asking God for help (step one ). The fool inside has many names PRIDE ,ANGER ,SHAME ,GUILT ,FEAR ,RESENTMENT, and the list goes on . Once you call out and recognize the fool inside he will begin to lose his grip on your life . Your DOC is the byproduct of the damage being caused by that fool inside who is calling the shots in your life. As long as he is in charge you will never reach your destiny.

Psalms 14 ; 1 The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that does good.

Joseph Dickerson

Free Community Seminars Presented by  Livengrin's Family Services Department Monday, April 7, 2014: Co-Occurring Disorders,  by Tina Rowan, MA, CAADC, LPC   From 6-8 pm Livengrin Counseling Center -- Oxford Valley 195 Bristol-Oxford Valley Road Langhorne, PA 19047   Seating is limited -- these sessions often fill up so please register as soon as possible.    To register for the sessions or for more information,  call Dana Cohen, Family Therapist -- 215.638.5200 x162    Ample free parking!

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Hip Hop and Sobriety: No Dope is Dope

A few big hip hop stars are swimming against the tsunami of pro-dope lyrics and artist lifestyles, seeking to make it "dope" (cool) to follow their lead. 

Shutterstock

By Cameron Turner

“Something 'bout Mary she gone off that Molly/Now the whole party is melted like Dalí.” 

That’s how Kanye West celebrates crystallized MDMA, the party drug du jour, on his song, "Mercy."

2 Chainz has similar praise for the ecstasy-esque drug on Nicki Minaj’s "Beez In The Trap" wherein he rhymes: “Got your girl on molly and we smokin' loud and drinkin'/ Got my top back so you can see what I been thinkin'." And Rihanna’s chart-busting anthem "Diamonds," applauds both molly and booze while summing up the myth of invincibility that drives devotees of the indulgent rock star lifestyle. With blinders firmly in place, Ri Ri boasts

Palms rise to the universe

As we moonshine and molly 

Feel the warmth, we’ll never die

We’re like diamonds in the sky

Of course people do die from substance abuse. But despite the long and tragic roster of creative people whose careers and lives have disintegrated due to dope and alcohol abuse, drugs of every description remain a celebrated and definitive feature of entertainment culture. But a few high profile hip hop artists are swimming against the tsunami of social acceptance. By going public about their sober lifestyles, performers like Joe Budden, Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi, and quadruple Grammy winner Macklemore aren’t merely telling their personal stories of survival—they’re also trying to change the culture by urging others in the hip hop nation to stay out of the substance trap.

That experience is not only messing up lives, its also diluting the originality of hip hop.

Joe Budden doesn’t think molly is cute. The rapper and reality show star blew 12-plus years of sobriety by messing with MDMA and he almost ran his life into a ditch. Budden spoke about his relapse with molly on VH1’s Love & Hip Hop: New York, and he opened up further during a TV news interview last year. The Shady Records emcee told Fox 5 News: “I didn’t see a problem with the fact that maybe five days would go by without sleeping. I didn’t see a problem with the fact that maybe I was hallucinating at times. I didn’t see a problem with the fact that I just couldn’t get up and walk sometimes. It just altered your thinking process dramatically, and for a thinker like myself, that was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.” That experience is not only messing up lives, its also diluting the originality of hip hop. So says Kendrick Lamar who closed his video for “B**ch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” with the slogan “Death to molly.” The breakout West Coast rapper then told Rolling Stone that, "When everybody consciously now uses this term or this phrase and putting it in lyrics, it waters the culture down."

Kendrick Lamar got scared straight early in life. As a child the Compton, California emcee saw enough alcohol abuse among his parents and their friends to know that he wanted no part of that hard partying lifestyle. Appearing on The Arsenio Hall Show last September, Lamar explained, "My parents are fairly young so I actually grew up with 'em and I was in the house when they partied and had fun. I seen the different vices that was in the house.” Watching all that liquor flow when he was a kid, then seeing his teenage peers binge left and right led Lamar to create his huge debut single, “Swimming Pools (Drank),” wherein he rhymes about finding the inner strength to resist pressure to "get a swimming pool full of liquor, then you dive in it." 

Verse two of the track has Kendrick being confronted by his conscience which tells him, “…if you do not hear me, then you will be history, I know that you're nauseous right now and I'm hopin' to lead you to victory.” Kendrick decides, “If I take another one down, I'ma drown in some poison, abusin' my limit.” Breaking the song down to Arsenio, Lamar explained, “I wanted to actually have it where I put it in the air where you can be a drinker who's aware or you can be an alcoholic…I was having fun but at the same time it was a message.” 

Like the peer-pressuring antagonists of Kendrick Lamar's song, Kid Cudi knows what it's like to dive into pools of booze. He had quit cocaine long before and when his doctor told him that liquor had enlarged his liver, Cudi knew he had to stop drinking as well. He sobered up before his last tour and he disproved a myth in the process. Drug and alcohol abusing artists have claimed for generations that being on something enhances their creativity. But being on the road substance free actually freed up Kid Cudi's creativity. He told Complex magazine, “I was sober from alcohol and the whole show benefited from that—the energy and everything. I was the happiest I had ever been on tour.”

Don't Look Now: The Right is Leading the Way To Saner Drug Policies | The Fix

Don't Look Now: The Right is Leading the Way To Saner Drug Policies | The Fix

How To Help Your Kid Stay Clean | The Fix

How To Help Your Kid Stay Clean | The Fix

Don't Drink No Matter What | The Fix

Don't Drink No Matter What | The Fix

Join us this Sunday for Livengrin's   Run for Recovery     Livengrin's 5th Annual Run for Recovery is this Sunday, 4/6, with registration starting at 7:30 am, race starting at 8:30 am Join us at Samuel Carpenter Park in Horsham, PA and run to provide support and hope for those seeking recovery from addiction.   For more details and to register, click here:http://www.livengrin.org/run/   Registration online is $25 per person; $30 at the registration table. All registration fees go towards patient treatment scholarships at  Livengrin Foundation.

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