Insurance industry spotlight 2003: current benefit plans for substance abuse treatment: are they "penny-wise and pound-foolish?".

From: San Fernando Valley Business Journal | Date: August 18, 2003| Author: Bachrach, Ken | Copyright information

Insurance benefits for treating substance abuse have, in most cases, not been updated to reflect the latest research findings about addiction and its treatment. The result is often ineffective treatment, which ends up raising the cost of health care in general, since substan diseases and mental health disorders.

Substance abuse costs California 33.7 billion dollars annually, and in the workplace it continues to be a serious problem for many employers. It has been estimat...

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