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by Eric Fischer

Detoxification and rehabilitation are the two treatment categories of substance abuse. Detoxification is short term medical treatment to manage withdrawal symptoms and rehabilitation is longer term counseling and classes to help the individual to remain sober. There are five basic questions to ask in determining substance abuse benefits through your health insurance.

-Do I have substance abuse health insurance benefits? Under current law companies providing group health insurance are only required to cover treatment for alcoholism not for drug abuse. However, most large group plans have substance abuse treatment benefits. A basic policy will cover outpatient treatment but will not cover residential rehabilitation care. Some plans offer “riders”, or supplemental options- for an additional premium amount- to augment a basic policy. Check with your health insurance company.

-What is my deductible and has it been met? Most health insurance plans have a yearly deductible that must be met before benefits are paid out. These can range anywhere from $ 100 to $ 5000. Under the new healthcare reform, there can no longer be separate deductibles for substance abuse and medical/surgical services.  Check your plans schedule of benefits to determine the amount of your deductible and contact your insurance company to see how much of your deductible has been met.

-What is the coverage amount per visit? Each health insurance plan will have different coinsurance or co-pay amounts for outpatient rehabilitation. You will either pay coinsurance- usually 80/20 – or you will have a co-pay per visit. Many plans limited the number of outpatient rehab visits to 20 per year but healthcare reform eliminated those benefit limits. The elimination of these benefit limits allows greater access to needed treatment.

-Is approval required from my primary care physician? Many health insurance companies require you to see your primary care physician to get a referral for substance abuse rehab unless it is court ordered. Authorization is usually required before rehab can begin. Many healthcare plans required members to complete a rehab program before payment would be made on the charges. If you did not complete the program then you did not receive the benefits and were personally responsible for the charges. Healthcare reform does not allow this anymore. Charges are paid by the health insurance companies during treatment.

-What is the reimbursement policy for out-of-network providers? A majority of health insurance companies require you to see in-network providers and do not provide any benefits if you go out-of-network. This is the same for any type of medical treatment, as well. Health insurance companies try to keep costs down by having its members utilize their network.

Healthcare reform has changed many aspects of substance abuse rehabilitation by bringing it into the realm of medical care. Insurers who cover substance abuse treatment must do so at the same level of benefit they provide for other medical conditions. This should increase the number of people seeking the help they need.

Nowadays there is different health insurance available on the market. Policies like Indemnity Health Insurance, HMO Health Maintenance Organization, PPO Preferred Provider Organization, POS Point of Service were available. HAS Health Savings Account Plan is the new plan in the market.

Reasonable Personal and Family Insurance Plans

Shopping for a health insurance plan is the best for you and your family; you should examine about your options and evaluate plans of the different companies. The three most reasonable health plans on the market are

(HMO) is the plan that gives comprise entire medical treatment with the less cost. The medical treatment provided to you under HMO plan should involve only the list of doctors and hospitals that the insurance company offers. The claim form cannot be submitted in this plan. It is you to take the responsibility.

(PPO) It is same as the HMO plan. The doctors and hospitals available in the setup provided by the company should be visited for the needy times. The beneficial aspect is you can go out for the professional outside the network provided by the company. It should cost extra fee for doing that so that you can too file your own claim form while visiting other doctors.

(HSA) It is the cheapest plan among all other plans for the medical treatment. The plan combined with High Deductible Health Insurance Plan will be offered for the treatment. Deductible cost will range from $ 1000 for this plan to make one qualify to acquire HSA.

Instant Health Insurance Quotes

All main insurance companies made their plans offers through online. It makes us easier to go for health insurance shopping anywhere, anytime and can avail reasonable insurance policy for personal as well as family that will make us safer considering our budget.

For the past several months, the daily economic news has been grim. We hear about more job losses, foreclosures, home sales down, food prices soar, the stock market goes up and down. These are extraordinarily difficult times for everyone, and in some way everyone is affected by the situation. The never-ending stress taps into your energy and saps your strength; it tests your faith and leaves you confused. Families without the added stressors of alcohol or drugs will pull together; they will make some sacrifices as they grumble and complain, but in the end these families will more than likely survive the current economy.   

What about the alcoholic? More importantly, what about the children living with an alcoholic? Research has confirmed that alcoholics lack coping skills. When faced with problems, the alcoholic will turn to the bottle. Most of us have seen the destructive dysfunction that results from alcohol or drug abuse. What happens when the alcoholic faces a job loss or pay cut, or loses the important health insurance? These situations exceed the “normal” stress of life and will most likely find the alcoholic turning to the bottle more often and in larger quantities.  

The National Runaway Switchboard has reported that there has been an alarming increase in calls over the past year. The callers have been increasingly younger. These victims have reported abuse and neglect with alcohol a common denominator in many cases. With the increased stress from the economy, there has been an increase in alcohol and drug abuse. With increased alcohol and drug abuse, we have seen more violent outbursts. The sad result has been child abuse and neglect. Unfortunately, the weak economy has also reduced the funding for shelters and self-help organizations.  

As we all know, eventually there will be more jobs and stocks will go up. We can all go eat lobster and see a movie. The economy will bounce back and up! In the interim, we need to ask ourselves a question: what about the children living in alcoholic homes during these tough times? Will their self-esteem ever be restored? What are the permanent lasting affects on these future leaders? We all need to be aware of the far reaching affects of a “bad” economy. Recent research indicated that children of alcoholics not only risk becoming an alcoholic but are more likely to abuse drugs.  

We must pay attention to friends and family members that may need some extra help, and possibly intervention, during this tough time. Teachers, church leaders and adults that come in contact with children, stay watchful and pay attention to children that may be living in an alcoholic home. The turmoil in an alcoholic home can create guilt, shame and confusion for the children. These children try desperately to keep this ugly family secret, yet more than anything they need a trusted adult that will listen to them. Encouragement and support will begin their journey on the road to recovery.  

We are all in this together, and we need to help each other. If we turn our backs on these children in need, the economy will recover but a huge segment of our society will not.  

Excessive alcohol intake can be fatal if not properly treated. Some think of alcohol treatment as impossible. Truth of the matter is, as any addiction it is never easy but with the best attitude and discipline it is very easy. Alcohol treatment is a journey so patience is of essence. It starts by one admitting that they have a problem with alcohol, you should not wait until it becomes uncontrollable.

There are many and effective alcohol treatment options like seeking a professional help or even going to a rehab. Believe it or not but you can also help yourself stop drinking and have control over alcohol The first and the most important thing to do is to commit to stop drinking. One should not allow denial to derail him. You might find yourself making excuses and sometimes not admitting you have the problem. This results into slower recovery. In this case keeping in mind the disadvantages of alcohol will help you to remain focused. You can consider how not drinking makes your relationship improve because you can handle problems with a sober mind. It also makes you feel good mentally. Finally it increases your productivity at work.

You need to surround yourself with people who have similar opinions and those who encourage you to stop drinking. This means you might need to avoid your drinking friends which is a worth course for the sake of your health. It also makes you a more responsible person rather than an ignorant person since alcohol gets in the way of your job performance and family duties.

The second stage of alcohol treatment and of necessity is to set goals and prepare for change. There are people who just want to cut drinking and those who want to stop completely. This depends on the severity of your alcohol intake. Abstinence is considered the safest and easiest. However if you just want to cut drinking you can decide which days you will take your drink, how many drinks you will take. If your case is to stop completely, you should know it is a gradual process which might also help to have a quit date, like 1 month, 2 months, 6 months and so on depending on your choice.

Temptations should be avoided at all cost like doing away with alcohol reminders, bar ware from home and office. Also let your friends, family members and colleagues know your intentions regarding alcohol recovery so that they accord you the support that you need. Discipline yourself from bad influences, where you limit yourself from alcohol and respecting those limits. You can talk to your doctor, join guidance counseling and peer group or even seek help from your health insurance company for encouragement and to keep you focused.

You must remember getting sober safely is also of importance. Due to the long time of alcohol intake when one stops drinking he might get mild headaches, his body parts shaking like the hands or even high blood pressure. When this happens its advisable to seek medical help.

To finally stay alcohol free you need to build a new you. This is in reference to taking good care of yourself, concentrate on eating the right food take daily exercise to help you relieve stress and promote your mental and physical well being. Develop new interests that leave you fulfilled therefore making you feel better about yourself and boost your self esteem.

A good alcohol treatment should plan for future triggers and cravings. These are major challenges and you should counter them with developing new skills to deal with stressful situations. Am mentioned earlier, discipline plays a major role in this treatment therefore saying a firm no is very important.

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