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Insurance Denials Brought Me To My Knees

4/25/2018

6 Comments

 
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So there was an appropriate gasp from the audience when I read VERBATIM our insurance company’s denial of coverage for our addicted son. The timing of denials often came at the worst possible moment… after we’d encouraged our son for months to walk into treatment.

He was a mess… sick, suicidal, starving, admitted to acute care.

The insurance rep decided that 4 days of acute care was all they’d cover. But our policy covered 30 days (just a start, really). No matter; they showed our son the door.

All those obstacles many of you, like me, have come up against in the fight against addiction, like insurance denials, THAT’s what I focused on in my speech at this Health Summit. Rehab programs are too short, waiting lines too long. Kids today have unprecedented access to potent prescription drugs. Opioids are sitting right there in everyone’s medicine cabinet. Struggling people are hiding from stigma and shame; families are fighting myths and insurance refusals. Communities are without low-cost long-term services and we need them NOW.
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Treatment works though it may take multiple attempts.

I’ve waited YEARS to tell insurance reps (who I knew would be sprinkled throughout this audience) how their denials once brought me to my knees. Remembering those life-or-death moments keeps me describing the obstacles tens of thousands of families like mine face in the fight against addiction.

​People struggling with substance abuse need ACCESS to services that will support long-term recovery. Insurance companies need to pay for what’s covered on policies, period. Over 375 policymakers and leaders were crowded into this room, listening, and ready to roll up their sleeves. It’s going to take every single one of us.

6 Comments
Barbara Sullivan
4/25/2018 03:37:21 pm

That’s one of the reasons my daughter is still using. No insurance to pay for rehab.

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D'Anne Burwell
4/26/2018 02:14:37 pm

Fighting for the insurance that we are supposed to have is awful but I can only imagine how impossible it must feel with no health insurance. Treatment for addiction should be available to those who seek it. Sending strength and courage.

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Lynn Gray link
4/26/2018 07:25:21 pm

My ins stopped coverage on my AS on his 26 bday, we now struggle this battle of no treatment due to no coverage. Everything is wrong with this epidemic everything. I have no clue what to do and yes he is calling looking for treatment as well

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D'Anne Burwell
4/27/2018 09:46:16 am

I wish I had answers. I wish that pure luck were not such a big part of all this. You're right, solutions for this epidemic are not happening fast enough. You can stay connected, convey love, and encourage him to forge ahead seeking recovery, and I know how that feels paltry compared to a powerful disease. There are a few free places, a few non-profits with some state funding, though hard to find. Hope you can find support for yourself. I wish there were access to good treatment in every community like a Starbucks where you walk in and get what you need.

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Carrie Mcginty
5/1/2018 10:12:44 pm

Sadly if you are on medicaid you have a better chance of getting a longer stay in treatment. The middle class who pay out of pocket astronomical amounts per month are the ones who suffer the most. It's almost as if you are punished for working hard for your 10.00 per hour because that is too much to get Medicaid but generally a job that doesn't have medical benefits.
We are also lacking coverage for some of the hardest days of Recovery which are 30+. No coverage for aftercare either. I don't have an answer but I do know that what we have in place now in Ohio is not working! Too many people are dying every day. It is not just the younger generation being plagued. The average age is 43 I believe.

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D'Anne Burwell
5/2/2018 09:20:38 am

Carrie, You've described much of this mess so well. I agree with you about those difficult early days and months where the system is so fractured lacking continuous care that many go back to old ways. If only those struggling had the solid ongoing support they desperately need. Yes! Every person we lose to overdose is one person too many. Thank you for commenting here.

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    D’Anne Burwell is the author of the award-winning SAVING JAKE: When Addiction Hits Home, a memoir about her family’s struggle with addiction. She speaks nationally about the impact of drug addiction on  families. She mentors parents struggling with addicted children. D’Anne believes that treatment not only works, it saves lives.

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Saving Jake: When Addiction Hits Home • ISBN: 978-0-9962543-0-4
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