Article - RE-TOX®

RE-TOX® An Answer to Decreasing Substance Abuse Insurance Benefits

By Dennis J. Hansen & Dr. Don Wicklman

The days of having medical benefits as part of your employment compensation package may be on the way out. In fact , it’s no secret that millions of Americans are without any medical insurance at all. What may not be so evident is that insurance companies providing benefits for substance abuse and dependency treatment are downsizing the number of dollars available for this coverage  “According to the Health Affairs study cost sharing in 2006 was higher for substance abuse treatment programs compared to other medical care.” ?  Some insurance providers allow a one time only benefit that will not even cover the costs of out patient treatment.

Keeping these concerns in mind New Beginnings Detox has created a treatment modality that is both effective and less costly….RE-TOX. Retox is a synergy of two aspects of treatment, detox and group therapy.

It has been a long standing precept understood by the treatment community that treating clients with group therapy while they are still using detox medication is ineffective and counterproductive. The accepted path for effective treatment was typically a 7-10 day stay at an in-patient detox facility followed directly by 28 days of in-patient treatment. After Care may or may not be offered as part of the treatment regimen.

While costs vary widely among treatment and detox providers it would not be unreasonable to pay $750/day for detox and between thirteen and fifteen thousand for a 28 day in-patient program. Some quick addition puts the total cost at almost $22,500 dollars which may be out of reach for most out of pocket clients.

RE-TOX is a new concept developed by New Beginnings Detox currently being used for opiate addicts. RE-TOX allows New Beginnings Detox to stabilize opiate addicts on a tapering dosing schedule of Suboxone ™ and then immediately enter the main stream population of our in-patient facility.

Because these two aspects of treatment are occurring concurrently the cost of detox is thousands of dollars less making it a more attractive package. But the financial benefits are not the only advantage of RE-TOX. RE-TOX minimizes time away from work and family potentially reducing financial and family stressors.

New Beginnings Detox is also seeking to develop a RE-TOX program for benzodiazepines as well. Preliminary research indicates that clients may be stabilized on an individualized treatment protocol and mainstream into an in-patient treatment program.

Questions still unanswered: “Will insurance providers recognize RE-TOX as a viable treatment modality? Will they provide reimbursement for these services? New Beginnings Detox is investigating the answers to these questions as its RE-TOX program moves forward.    

References:

1 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/73646.php. Retreived March 5, 2009.