Addiction Treatment Case Study

The current challenges for getting individuals into addiction treatment can vary from case to case. However, the three most important factors affecting this would be problems getting insurance coverage, a lack of trained health providers, and low quality of care. According to Kelly Clark, President-Elect of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, says that some insurance plans limit doses of the opioid treatment buprenorphine that patients can receive. These insurance plans also limit the length of time that patients can receive it as well. Making insurance coverage a priority could possibly make it less of a hassle for the patients to try and get the help that they need. The second issue challenging individuals would be the lack of
trained health providers. Many addiction treatment specialists have little formal education or training in addiction. Some states require a high-school diploma or a GED to become an addiction counselor. Along with this, some states require only an associate’s degree. To make matters worse, some states don’t require any degree, or even require these addiction counselors to be certified or licensed. This is a major red flag. The third, and final issue challenging individuals would be the low quality of care that is received when they do make the decision to reach out and ask for help. Many addiction treatment programs use unproven and ineffective treatment methods. Some treatment programs promise “one time fixes” and others offer extravagant residential treatment at high costs. Contrary to the 30-day inpatient rehab, people with serious substance abuse problems require care for months or even years after. The short-term fix explains why many people return to their old habits after getting treatment. The way to fix all of this: make addiction recovery and treatment a priority. Addiction treatment in the U.S. is neglected in the health care system. Effective ways of treating addiction need to be talked about and researched in order to provide the best care for these individuals. Along with this, there should be laws or guidelines that pertain to becoming an addiction treatment counselor. Every state should require at least some form of training or education. By doing this, we are ensuring that the counselor is providing the best quality of care to the patient. Even though the U.S. is in a massive amount of debt and turmoil, this issue is not something that should be ignored.