With the overwhelming number of Americans living with substance use disorders relying on health insurance to help pay for the cost of treatment, the nation's private insurers face significant challenges in providing adequate coverage. In 2002, the average cost of treatment of substance use disorders in an outpatient setting was estimated at $1,433 per course of treatment; more aggressive in-patient treatment options and methadone (medication-assisted treatment) services can cost nearly $8,000 per admission. Clearly, the cost of treatment is significant; however, the cost of not treating these disorders is even higher.
Central to the challenges private insurers face when deciding which treatment options to cover are concerns about whether employers will want to invest their money in treatment plans that may not be used, as well as concerns about the cost-effectiveness of those treatments. Additionally, in an economy where employers look to cut costs, providing additional covered services may not appear cost effective for private insurers. In the long term, however, the opposite is often true. In some cases, integrating addiction treatment with medical treatment can cut the cost of medical treatment in half.
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