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.