Maybe I missed it.
Maybe I missed it. You know what I don't see in here? Anything about the fact that even when you have health insurance it may not pay for all the things that can be done other than prescribe opioids for many people with pain issues. Not a word about the fact that one of the likely reasons this is the worst in poorer areas is that it costs $10 or $15 or $20 for an hour of yoga class - just one example of one possible adjunct, and a reasonable fee btw - and it costs as little as $2 for a copay on a week or more of oxycodone (real life example).
It just makes me wonder, then, where the real pressure in the system exists? Because the best insurance in this country isn't going to pay for 3 yoga classes a week, or a chiropractor, or a physical or occupation therapy visit, or etc. for 6 months, or 6 years, or the rest of someone's life. They might not even pay for a weekly counseling visit to deal with the real emotional and mental effects of pain which have real physical effects. I mean, they might pay for 20 counseling visits in a year, so ideally some intensive weekly therapy up front could eventually get spaced to once a month. If you have insurance that covers that. If you have the $40/visit co-pay out of pocket.
While we do need to address many of the things in the article and the bills under consideration, it seems a pretty critical issue to prevent the problems from occurring, and that means changing a system where narcotics are the cheapest treatment available. Not by leaving people with no treatment options, either.
Just a thought.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/17/congress-opioids-crisis-illegal-drugs-792373
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/17/congress-opioids-crisis-illegal-drugs-792373
It just makes me wonder, then, where the real pressure in the system exists? Because the best insurance in this country isn't going to pay for 3 yoga classes a week, or a chiropractor, or a physical or occupation therapy visit, or etc. for 6 months, or 6 years, or the rest of someone's life. They might not even pay for a weekly counseling visit to deal with the real emotional and mental effects of pain which have real physical effects. I mean, they might pay for 20 counseling visits in a year, so ideally some intensive weekly therapy up front could eventually get spaced to once a month. If you have insurance that covers that. If you have the $40/visit co-pay out of pocket.
While we do need to address many of the things in the article and the bills under consideration, it seems a pretty critical issue to prevent the problems from occurring, and that means changing a system where narcotics are the cheapest treatment available. Not by leaving people with no treatment options, either.
Just a thought.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/17/congress-opioids-crisis-illegal-drugs-792373
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/17/congress-opioids-crisis-illegal-drugs-792373
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