“When someone is ready for treatment, New Life will certainly look at all reasonable options to help their recovery.” -Jennifer Wheeler, business development and outreach director, New Life Addiction Counseling Services
Regarding possible solutions to help make treatment a ordable for more people, Collins would like to see changes in the procedural requirements insurance companies place on treatment providers like New Life. One of the major drivers of addiction treatment costs is patients who relapse, and – in some cases – cycle through treatment multiple times. Collins believes one way to reduce relapse rates would be to adopt more of a “top-down” approach: since insurers are focused on reducing costs, they typically favor starting with less-expensive outpatient care. They see inpatient care as a second option, for patients who have failed at outpatient treatment. Collins says it would make more sense to start with inpatient care, rather than “making clients fail at a lower level of care” before receiving inpatient treatment. In the latter case, patients who need inpatient treatment often have to be placed on waiting lists until a bed is available. “Any number of things” could happen to a client while they are waiting – a health crisis, incarceration or even death. So, “waiting is not the best option.”
“Waiting is not the best option.” -Jim Collins, counselor and business development manager, New Life Addiction Counseling Services.
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