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.
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.
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.
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.
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