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.